MK Shelly Yechimovich
MK Shelly YechimovichFlash 90

The public is tired of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, MK Shelly Yechimovich (Labor) said on Monday night.

Her comments on Facebook came hours after a meeting between Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid which was aimed to save the coalition failed, paving the way for likely elections.

“I am happy that a year and a half year ago I decided not to enter this terrible government, which brought down the economy, society, democracy and security,” wrote Yechimovich, who headed the Labor party during the last elections before being replaced by Yitzhak Herzog.

“The last few weeks were a painful and loathsome demonstration of the oldest politics that exist, without a drop of a vision and ideology and with a lot of scheming and honor games.”

“These were two wasted years that brought upon us a recession, prices which went up and up, more poor workers, eroded wages, hatred and a deepening rift among the people, a complete political deadlock and a Jerusalem which is burning,” she continued.

“A government without a way that did not do anything for Israelis now ends its way for no reason.”

“Please note, a year and a half has passed since Lapid said that in a year and a half things will be better.”

“And Netanyahu - Netanyahu is fed up of his government, but the Israeli public is fed up with Netanyahu,” concluded Yechimovich.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, head of the Hatnua party, also responded on Monday night to the impending elections, saying that “they are not about the 0% VAT, but about whether there will be a Zionist state or an extremist state here.”

“The decision at hand is about Zionism vs. extremism,” said Livni.

The meeting between Lapid and Netanyahu was determined to be a failure after Netanyahu set five impossible conditions for Lapid to meet.

The most difficult of these conditions, according to analysts, was Netanyahu’s demand that Lapid give up on the 0% VAT law, which he had been aggressively pushing.