Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party formally submitted its Knesset slate Monday, effectively ending speculation that Bennett and Gadi Eisenkot could still reach a last-minute agreement to run together in the October 27 election.

Former Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen and B’Yachad Director-General Bruria Naim Erman submitted the party’s list to the Central Elections Committee at the Knesset ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for parties to register their candidate slates.

The filing appears to close the door on a possible joint run between Bennett’s B’Yachad and Eisenkot’s Yashar, after Hebrew-language reports indicated as recently as the past week that negotiations between the two former military chiefs and prime ministerial hopefuls were still taking place.

The two parties have moved in different directions in recent polling. Eisenkot’s Yashar has surged to become the largest opposition faction in surveys and has been running neck-and-neck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud at approximately 23 to 25 seats.

Bennett’s B’Yachad, meanwhile, has generally been polling at approximately 13 to 15 seats.

With both parties now formally submitting separate lists, Bennett and Eisenkot are set to compete independently rather than entering the election on a combined opposition slate.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)