Yair Lapid
Yair LapidYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid slammed the Israeli government on Monday for not responding to the anti-Israel campaign targeting London's underground system.

The anti-Israel posters were in many cases carefully inserted into advertising spaces, giving them the appearance of legitimate advertisements. The flurry of vandalism coincides with the BDS movement's "Israel Apartheid Week," and includes posters with graphic images and accusations of Israeli sexual abuse and torture of Arab children.

Yet despite the gravity of the anti-Israel smears, the Israeli government has done nothing in response, Lapid said at a party meeting on Monday. With no official state response he took it upon himself to contact London's mayor, Boris Johnson, over posters Lapid described as "anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli."

"Since the Israeli government did nothing, as usual - nothing at all - I contacted the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson - a great friend of Israel - and I explained to him that Israel will not tolerate this [propaganda] and that we're asking him to intervene."

Lapid noted Johnson's rapid response following the call. "He immediately intervened and checked out the situation. It turns out that the ads were unauthorized. He's already ordered [their removal]."

The London Underground is a major transit system, used by more than three million Londoners every day, making it an ideal venue for propaganda material.