Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has ruled out any possibility of joining a national unity government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is allowed to remain in office, highlighting the personal nature of Lapid’s motives.
Various politicians and media outlets in Israel have floated the idea in recent days of a coalition government that could restore unity to the country after several months of protests over Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms.
Netanyahu slowed down his reforms and broke them up piecemeal in an effort to seek compromise. But Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and other opposition parties could not reach an deal with Netanyahu’s Likud-led government.
Faced with economic instability, social unrest, and a growing public desire for compromise on the remaining judicial reform proposals, Lapid has decided that objections to Netanyahu himself are the all-important factor.
The Times of Israel reports:
Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Monday said he would be prepared to join a coalition with Likud, but not while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to lead the party.
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“That is because I am a decent man, and that would be the death of decency,” he said.
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“In Israel, there needs to be an opposition to corruption. In the end, it is not the man, but what he brings to the national table,” Lapid said. “He has lost all concern with the national interest; he is only concerned with his own interests.”
Netanyahu is currently on trial for corruption; many observers agree that the charges are flimsy at best, and judges recently told prosecutors privately that their case was too weak to prevail on the main charge of bribery. Lapid himself is a witness in the trial, a bizarre circumstance that highlights what critics say is the politically motivated nature of the charges. Netanyahu returned to power in last year’s elections despite the ongoing criminal trials.
On Sunday, Lapid also rejected Netanyahu’s offer to negotiate on his remaining judicial reforms, saying he would not do so unless they were shelved until eighteen months from now, in 2025 — close to the next scheduled elections.
Ironically, Lapid has sought support against Netanyahu’s judicial reforms from Democrats in the U.S. Congress who are in the forefront of efforts to expand and pack the Supreme Court — changes far more radical than any in Israel.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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