Yair Lapid in Jerusalem's Old City
Yair Lapid in Jerusalem's Old CityHadas Parush/Flash 90

Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid on Monday morning held his party's faction meeting at the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, where several hours earlier an Arab terrorist was shot while attempting to stab a security guard.

Lapid praised the quick actions of the security forces who shot the terrorist to death.

"Whoever comes with a knife needs to know that they will be shot to kill," warned the former finance minister.

Turning his attention to the Knesset, where there have been rumors of a potential unity government being formed, Lapid said, "the state of Israel needs unity now."

"The time for political accounts is not now. If there wouldn't be populist criticism by politicians, the army could calm the ground," he claimed.

Lapid's statements come despite the fact that he has repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for failing to secure citizens against the Arab terror wave.

Just last Saturday night after a lethal attack in the Old City, Lapid said, "this government has failed to provide security for the citizens of the State of Israel: it failed to provide security for the residents of Judea and Samaria, it failed to provide security for the residents of Jerusalem, it failed to provide security for the residents of the Gaza Belt. This is a government which is busy with internal conflicts instead of providing security to citizens. It must restore the security to the citizens of Israel."

Last Thursday Lapid launched more criticism, saying, "it's clear the government reacted too late."

In his statements in the Old City on Monday, Lapid continued by praising the decision to block MKs from the Temple Mount, and not to build in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria where an unprecedented unofficial building freeze has been in effect since 2013.

Lapid's criticism comes shortly after he met Saudi prince Turki Al Faisal in New York late last month, in an apparent attempt to push the "Saudi Peace Plan."

He reportedly spoke to the former Saudi intel chief about his plans to have Israel withdraw from its Biblical heartland as part of a regional peace accord.