announced that he was leaving journalism for politics.In early 2010, speculation arose in the Israeli media concerning the possibility that Israeli journalist and television figure
Yair Lapid, who at the time worked as a news anchor at
Channel 2, would end his career in
journalism and begin a career in Israeli politics. Initially, Lapid dismissed these reports. The Knesset initiated legislation to lessen the influx of Israeli journalists running for a position by prohibiting them as candidates in the first year after they ended their journalism careers. Despite widespread interest in Lapid, he declined to be interviewed. He gained support through social networks, primarily his
Facebook page. Among his official announcements, Lapid said he would not join
Kadima or the
Israeli Labor Party. In addition, Lapid announced that he would work to change the system of government, have all Israelis conscripted to serve time in the army, and would work to change the Israeli
matriculation program. In early January 2012, Lapid officially announced that he would quit journalism in order to enter politics, and that he would lead a new party. In April 2012, the proposed new party was reported to be named "Atid". Lapid said that the party would not have any members who were legislators or Members of Knesset (
MKs). On 29 April, Lapid registered his party as "Yesh Atid", after the name "Atid" was rejected. On 1 May, the first party conference was held, in which Lapid revealed the "Lapid Program" ("תוכנית לפיד"): military service for all Israelis. According to the party's rules, Lapid would determine the candidates who would run for a seat in the Knesset—for he would be the one to make the final decisions on political issues—and was guaranteed the position of chairman of the party during the terms of the 19th and 20th Knessets. The party was capped at raising 13.5 million
shekels for the
2013 Israeli legislative election. Lapid has said his party is different from his late father's
Shinui, in part because of its diversity and its inclusion of religious figures. Despite this, analysts have found them somewhat similar. Yesh Atid presented centrist populism to its middle and upper-middle class constituency, with anti-incumbent messages and calls for cleaner politics, similar to so-called "new/centrist populist parties" that have arisen in Europe. Yesh Atid voters tend to have higher levels of income and education compared to the general population, and hold moderate views on economic and security issues.
19th Knesset In the election held on 22 January 2013, Yesh Atid won the second-largest share of representation in the Knesset, with 19 seats. The party was particularly strong in wealthy districts and cities like
Tel Aviv,
Givatayim,
Ramat Gan and
Herzliya. Yesh Atid's success was viewed as the largest surprise of the election, as pre-election polling gave the party only 8-11 seats. He joined Netanyahu's governing coalition. Although he focused mostly on domestic and economic concerns of social justice, he had criticized Netanyahu's foreign policy and said he would not sit in a government that was not serious about pursuing peace. Lapid endorsed Netanyahu for prime minister after the election, and on 15 March 2013, the party signed a coalition agreement with the ruling Likud party. Almost one year after the election, a survey was published showing a continuing trend of decreasing popularity of the party, which would only achieve 10 seats in the Knesset, as opposed to the 19 party members who were elected, if elections were held at that time, and with 75% of those polled claiming to be disappointed by Lapid's performance. The finance ministry post came with budgetary restrictions (cutting spending, raising taxes, and confronting the money demands of the defense ministry) that affected Lapid's popularity.
20th Knesset Run-up to the 2015 election Before
the 2015 election, Lapid separately courted both
Tzipi Livni (
Hatnuah) and
Moshe Kahlon (
Kulanu) in an effort to form electoral alliances with their respective parties. Both efforts were unsuccessful: Livni formed an alliance with Labor, and Kahlon preferred to run alone. On 8 February 2015, Yesh Atid MK
Shai Piron said the party would prefer a coalition led by
Isaac Herzog and Livni than one by Netanyahu. His campaign continued to emphasize the economy over national security, although he has somewhat departed from his previous almost-exclusive focus on domestic policy and become more vocal, and left-leaning, on the peace process. The party focused on middle-class needs and in this respect was very similar to Kahlon's new
Kulanu party. However, Lapid's main electoral base is the European-oriented upper-middle class, whereas Kahlon targeted the lower-middle class. While both Yesh Atid and Kulanu are positioned as centrist parties, Yesh Atid is almost universally considered to be aligned with the left-leaning political bloc, and Kulanu, sometimes considered right-leaning, is a "swing" party not aligned with any bloc.
Aftermath Yesh Atid won 11 seats in the 20th Knesset, making it the fourth-largest faction. However, it increased in popularity throughout 2017 and the first months of 2018, rivalling
Likud as the biggest party in
opinion polls. After the
Haredim received favorable draft concessions in a negotiated deal among the government coalition, Yair Lapid denounced the arrangements as an "insult to the IDF" and a "fraud".
24th Knesset In the
2021 Israeli legislative election, Yesh Atid ran alone and became the second largest party in the Knesset with 17 seats and getting votes in many cities in Israel including
Tel Aviv,
Herzliya,
Ramat HaSharon,
Kiryat Ono and
Ramat Gan. On 9 May 2021, it was reported that Lapid and Yamina leader
Naftali Bennett had made major headway in the coalition talks. The anti-Netanyahu coalition has been described as the "Change bloc." Coalition whip
Boaz Toporovsky described Yesh Atid as taking a more "statesmanlike" tone, and having learned from its experience. After cultivating ties with liberal parties worldwide, Yesh Atid was admitted to the
Liberal International, in October 2021 as an observer member.
25th Knesset The
2022 Israeli legislative election resulted in Yesh Atid winning 24 seats, its best result yet, with the party gaining the most votes in most areas in Tel Aviv and in the other cities in Israel. However, it failed to form government and returned to the opposition. In October 2023, it was announced that Yesh Atid would hold its
first leadership primary elections, which were contested by incumbent leader Yair Lapid and MK
Ram Ben-Barak. The elections were held on 28 March 2024; Lapid won with 52.5% of the vote, narrowly beating Ben-Barak by 308 votes to 279, a margin of just 29 votes. Lapid sought to dissolve the Knesset in mid-July 2025, seeking the signatures of 61 MKs, as a dissolution attempt the previous month had failed. The bill would require the support of nine MKs outside of the opposition.
26th Knesset Run-up to the 2026 election On 26 April 2026, Lapid and Bennett 2026 leader Naftali Bennett announced in a joint press conference that Yesh Atid and Bennett's party,
Bennett 2026, would run jointly in
the 2026 election as part of a new political alliance,
Together, which will be led by Bennett. ==Current MKs==