# Yesh Atid (יש עתיד)
**Yesh Atid** (יש עתיד, "There Is a Future") is a centrist, liberal political party in Israel, founded in 2012 by the journalist and media personality [Yair Lapid](https://www.edgepedia.org/yair-lapid) ahead of the elections for the 19th Knesset.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) The party's agenda centers mainly on social, civic, and governance matters, giving defense and foreign policy comparatively little attention; it backs distributing military service obligations equally, promotes improving education, and seeks a leaner government along with a restriction of prime ministers to two terms.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) The party has been part of Israeli governments twice, and its leader served briefly as prime minister in 2022.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012, at the initiative of Yair Lapid, ahead of the 2013 elections[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) |
| Leader | Yair Lapid since founding; his status as leader was secured by party bylaws, with no leadership competition from formation[2](https://academic.oup.com/book/58013/chapter/479032416) |
| Best result | 24 seats in 2022, making it the second largest faction in the Knesset[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) |
| Most recent result | 24 seats in 2022 (847,435 votes, 17.8%), the largest party in the opposition[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/e9295f7ccae3e00f373c5925d1254cd5) |
| Government roles | Senior coalition partner in Netanyahu's third government (2013); coalition partner in the 36th "change government" (2021–2022); Lapid was Israel's 14th prime minister from July to December 2022[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) • [4](https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/mk/government/Pages/governments.aspx?govid=36) |
| 2026 status | Running jointly with the Bennett 2026 party as the Beyachad list in the elections for the 26th Knesset[5](https://www.idi.org.il/policy/parties-and-elections/parties/yesh-atid/) |
## Founding and the 2013 breakthrough
Lapid launched the party in 2012 after a career in journalism and television. It was the surprise of the January 2013 elections, winning 19 seats with 543,458 votes (14.3% of valid votes) and becoming the second largest faction in the Knesset, behind Likud Yisrael Beiteinu's 31.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) • [6](https://www.gov.il/apps/elections/eng/list/Results_eng.html) Analysts attributed the result partly to the collapse or weakening of other centrist and leftist parties, and partly to Lapid's political skills.[2](https://academic.oup.com/book/58013/chapter/479032416)
The campaign centered on a secular, "middle class first" social agenda, calling for the ultra-Orthodox population to integrate into national life and share the burden of military service.[7](https://www.cfr.org/articles/israels-2013-election-lapid-and-perils-third-parties) The party's 2013 agenda proposed raising the Knesset electoral threshold from 2% to 6%, requiring a no-confidence vote to have the support of 70 members of Knesset, and capping governments at 18 ministers, all with portfolios.[8](https://www.idi.org.il/media/7118/yeshatid_19platform.pdf) A study of the election found that in 2013 voters for the first time gave priority to socio-economic issues over the political-security factor, and that Israeli middle-class voters strongly backed Yesh Atid, which had placed middle-class interests at the center of its discourse; 80% of Yesh Atid voters prioritized religion, society, and the economy, against 51% of all voters.[9](https://ojs.acrps.ai/index.php/siyasatarabiya/en/article/view/issue002-art03) • [10](https://jppi.org.il/uploads/Annual_Assessment_2012-2013.pdf)
## The 2013–2015 coalition and the fall
Yesh Atid joined [Benjamin Netanyahu](https://www.edgepedia.org/benjamin-netanyahu)'s third government, which took office in March 2013, as its senior coalition partner. Its representatives held five ministries: Finance (Lapid), [Education](https://www.edgepedia.org/education) (Shay Piron), Health (Yael German), Welfare (Meir Cohen), and Science (Yaakov Peri).[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) In early December 2014 Netanyahu fired Lapid as finance minister; the party's other ministers resigned in response, and Yesh Atid remained in opposition until June 2021.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/)
The 2015 elections reduced the party to 11 seats (371,602 votes, 8.8%).[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/)
## Blue and White, and the change government
Ahead of the elections for the 21st Knesset, Yesh Atid joined forces with [Benny Gantz](https://www.edgepedia.org/benny-gantz)'s Israel Resilience and Telem in the Blue and White electoral list, with Lapid placed second on the list. Cooperation continued through the two elections that followed.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) After the 2020 elections, Gantz decided to enter a unity government with Likud under Netanyahu, Blue and White split, and Yesh Atid chose to remain in the opposition.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/)
In the 2021 elections, run independently, Yesh Atid won 17 seats (614,112 votes, 13.9%).[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) After Netanyahu failed to form a coalition, President Reuven Rivlin tasked Lapid with the job on 5 May; Lapid informed the president on 2 June that he had succeeded.[11](https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9189/) The resulting 36th government, the "change government," was sworn in on 13 June 2021 after a 60-59 confidence vote with one abstention. Under the rotation agreement, Naftali Bennett of Yamina served as prime minister first, with Lapid as alternate prime minister and foreign minister.[11](https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9189/) • [4](https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/mk/government/Pages/governments.aspx?govid=36) The coalition spanned eight parties from the far left to the far right and included Ra'am, the first independent Arab party in an Israeli governing coalition.[12](https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/dynamiccollectorresultitem/prospectuses_18k_report_2021/en/Prospectuses_prospectuses_18k_report_2021.pdf)
## Lapid as prime minister
In spring 2022 the coalition destabilized after several MKs withdrew their parliamentary support, and Bennett decided to dissolve the Knesset and call early elections. On 1 July 2022 Lapid was sworn in as Israel's 14th prime minister, a position he held for about half a year, until the 37th government was sworn in on 29 December 2022.[13](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/elections/2022/) • [4](https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/mk/government/Pages/governments.aspx?govid=36)
## Largest opposition party, 2022
In the November 2022 elections Yesh Atid won 24 seats with 847,435 votes (17.8%), making it the largest party in the opposition.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) Its Knesset representation stood at 24 seats as of May 31, 2026, second only to Likud's 32.[14](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52749/000110465926079237/tm2619146d1_ex99-d.htm)
## Platform and voters
The party positions itself as a centrist liberal party, emphasizing social, civic, and governance issues over the political-security dimension.[1](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/) Surveys of its electorate in the early 2020s found that half of its voters defined themselves as belonging to the Center camp, with minorities (20 to 30%) on the Right or Left, and that half of Yesh Atid voters identified as Ashkenazi.[15](https://en.idi.org.il/articles/39409) • [16](https://en.idi.org.il/articles/39410) Among Jewish voters, its 2021 and 2022 electorate showed little change in religious self-definition between the two elections.[17](https://en.idi.org.il/articles/64807)
## Party structure
The party's official registered name is Yesh Atid, Headed by Yair Lapid, and from its formation there was no competition for the leadership position, a status secured by party bylaws. Between its establishment in 2012 and late 2021 the party did not reform this centralized structure; its electoral success, especially compared with the decline of Labor and Meretz, gave it no incentive to do so.[2](https://academic.oup.com/book/58013/chapter/479032416) As of May 31, 2026, it remained the second largest faction in the Knesset, with 24 of 120 seats.[14](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52749/000110465926079237/tm2619146d1_ex99-d.htm)
## The 2026 joint list
In April 2026, Yesh Atid announced that it would join the party of former prime minister [Naftali Bennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/naftali-bennett) and run in the elections for the 26th Knesset on a joint list named Beyachad ([Together](https://www.edgepedia.org/together-israel)).[5](https://www.idi.org.il/policy/parties-and-elections/parties/yesh-atid/) Under Israel's electoral rules, parties must capture at least 3.25% of the vote to enter the Knesset, and no single party has ever won a majority of its 120 seats.[3](https://apnews.com/article/e9295f7ccae3e00f373c5925d1254cd5)
## References
1. [Yesh Atid, Israeli Elections and Parties, The Israel Democracy Institute](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/parties/yesh-atid/)
2. [Political Parties and Democracy: The Israeli Case, in Political Parties and the Crisis of Democracy, Oxford Academic](https://academic.oup.com/book/58013/chapter/479032416)
3. [A look at key parties in Israel's Oct. 27 election seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/e9295f7ccae3e00f373c5925d1254cd5)
4. [Thirty-Sixth Government, The Knesset](https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/mk/government/Pages/governments.aspx?govid=36)
5. [יש עתיד, המכון הישראלי לדמוקרטיה](https://www.idi.org.il/policy/parties-and-elections/parties/yesh-atid/)
6. [Final official results of the Elections for the Nineteenth Knesset, Israeli government elections portal](https://www.gov.il/apps/elections/eng/list/Results_eng.html)
7. [Israel's 2013 Election: Lapid and the Perils of Third Parties, Council on Foreign Relations](https://www.cfr.org/articles/israels-2013-election-lapid-and-perils-third-parties)
8. [Yesh Atid, Our Agenda (2013 platform), via The Israel Democracy Institute](https://www.idi.org.il/media/7118/yeshatid_19platform.pdf)
9. [The 2013 Israeli Parliamentary Elections: Between Political Continuity and Social Change, Siyasat Arabiya](https://ojs.acrps.ai/index.php/siyasatarabiya/en/article/view/issue002-art03)
10. [Annual Assessment 2012–2013, Jewish People Policy Institute](https://jppi.org.il/uploads/Annual_Assessment_2012-2013.pdf)
11. [Israel: 2021 parliamentary election and new coalition government, House of Commons Library](https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9189/)
12. [For Foreign Governments and Political Subdivisions Thereof, Israeli Ministry of Finance](https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/dynamiccollectorresultitem/prospectuses_18k_report_2021/en/Prospectuses_prospectuses_18k_report_2021.pdf)
13. [2022 Israeli elections, The Israel Democracy Institute](https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/elections/2022/)
14. [Knesset seat distribution by political party as of May 31, 2026, SEC filing exhibit](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52749/000110465926079237/tm2619146d1_ex99-d.htm)
15. [The Demographic Characteristics of Voters, The Israel Democracy Institute](https://en.idi.org.il/articles/39409)
16. [The Center: Yesh Atid, New Hope, Blue and White and Yisrael Beitenu Voters, The Israel Democracy Institute](https://en.idi.org.il/articles/39410)
17. [Voting Patterns of Jews in the 2022 Elections by Religious Self-Definition, The Israel Democracy Institute](https://en.idi.org.il/articles/64807)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Political systems and ideas › Political parties and party families › Liberal-democratic parties › Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and Asian liberal parties › Central Asian, Caucasian, and 'Liberal Democratic'-named Asian parties*
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