Bennett-Lapid tensions threaten Israeli rotation agreement
An increasing number of reports indicate that tensions are growing between advisers in the team of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and advisers of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
In another year and a half — on Aug. 27, 2023, to be exact — Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will be taking over the prime minister’s office, as part of the rotation agreement that made the current government possible. If everything goes according to plan, incumbent Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will step down after a two-year term as prime minister and become the next minister of the interior.
The question is whether this will really happen. Ever since the current government was formed, everyone wondered whether Bennett really will respect the rotation agreement and vacate the prime minister’s office.
True, he and Lapid have presented a united front ever since the government was first formed. They only have good things to say about each other, in their speeches and on social media. Both make a concerted effort to send the message that the only thing that matters to them is the nation’s well-being.
Bennett and Lapid first formed a political alliance after the 2013 election, when they were both young politicians at the start of their careers. They did have a falling-out for a few years, but they began cooperating again, this time even more fully, after the fourth election. In the end, the alliance between them finally brought about an end to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long years in office.
