The Chair of Yesh Atid-Telem and Leader of the Opposition, MK Yair Lapid, opened the Yesh Atid Telem faction meeting in the Knesset this afternoon.
"These days there is no government in Israel", Lapid said, "The ministers are arguing in the Corona committee with the Minister of Health. The chair of the coalition is arguing on twitter with the Finance Minister. The Prime Minister humiliates his alternate in front of the cameras".
Regarding the budget, Lapid said emphasized that there is more doubt than decision "No one knows if the budget will be for one year or two", he said, "No-one knows what the new regulations will be or even if there will be new regulations. No one knows when the next compensation payments will come through. No one knows why there isn't unemployment benefits for the self-employed. No one knows which summer camps will operate. No-one knows how many people are allowed to gather together – 50, 250 or 500".
"No one knows because no one knows who is responsible for what", Lapid continued, "The Health Ministry is making recommendations. There is a global pandemic and they're making recommendations like a restaurant critic. There aren't enough tests, we need to get to 15,000 a day. There isn't enough information about the disease. There isn't a compensation framework for small businesses. There isn't a plan to get people back to work. Unemployment rates in Israel are among the highest in the world".
Lapid related to the setback in terms of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel and mentioned that a few weeks ago the Prime Minister said "the whole world is learning from us how to manage the Corona crisis". "Everyone was very impressed", Lapid said, "except the world. Because the rest of the world understands that there is a difference between talking and managing a crisis. They're not impressed by speeches, they're working with facts".
Lapid noted that the European Union is opening its borders but Israel is marked as a 'red country'. "A red country is one that isn't effectively managing the Corona crisis. Instead of managing the crisis they created the largest, most bloated government in the history of Israel".
Lapid ended his remarks relating to a poll published yesterday, that showed that 85% of the public are worried about their economic future. "The rest are all members of the government", Lapid said sarcastically, "Arranging tax breaks and Audi A8's for one another. This government has no right to exist. They threw all their promises into the garbage, cheated the voters just because they said "Corona, Corona". But they're not managing the Corona because they're too busy arguing with one another, fighting over status, handing out jobs".
"They're not even hiding it anymore", Lapid concluded, "because shame is dead".