Opposition leader Yair Lapid today (Tuesday) addressed the controversy surrounding Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's meeting with Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush, who was fired from her position after the meeting was publicized.
"The Foreign Minister of the State of Israel should know the rules of diplomatic work. This is irresponsible. There have been similar cases in the past with some of the countries of the region, it always makes things much more difficult," Lapid said in an interview with Channel 12 News.
When asked about the polls showing his Yesh Atid party losing support, he said: "I ask myself what I need to do better. When elections are near, people will look and say, I know who will fight for me."
Lapid strongly criticized the coalition's intention to pass a new Draft Law enshrining the exemptions from military service of haredi yeshiva students in law. "This is not an exemption from conscription, it is the end of the People's Army, and it is a draft evasion law. It is a blatant injustice, it must not happen. There are ways to fight, I put a Draft Law on the Knesset table."
Regarding the statement by a member of his party, Ram Ben Barak, who claimed that "Netanyahu is causing more damage than the Iranians, Netanyahu is destroying us," Lapid said: "I would not have phrased it like that. We are in a terrible corner, he is the prime minister, looking for villains is nice, but it is not the prime minister's job."
"The threat that could tear us apart is the internal threat, the rift in the nation that can be prevented by stopping the coup d'état," he said.
When asked about the possibility of forming a unity government, Lapid said that now is not the time. "We need to have elections as soon as possible and then it will be possible to form a unity government."