Yair Lapid
Yair Lapidצילום: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Opposition Leader and Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid called on right-of-center parties Sunday to join him in establishing an alternate government and unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking at a press briefing Sunday afternoon, Lapid endorsed the establishment of a centrist national unity government featuring factions from both the Right and Left.

“I want to echo something that my friend Naftali Bennett said last week: Israel cannot afford fifth elections. Israel needs a government,” said Lapid.

“We have to restore trust between the public and its leaders. We have to form a government that will unite us. Not a right-wing government, not a left-wing government but an Israeli unity government.”

|In the past two years Israeli politics has created only hate and anger. It saw the wounds in Israeli society and picked at them. Our role is to heal those wounds. From Yesh Atid's first day, unity was the thing we strived for. We don't want unity because there is no other choice, we want unity because it's the right thing.”

Noting the ongoing political impasse, Lapid said Netanyahu’s removal from power would allow the country to move beyond what he called the “cult of personality” which has polarized the Israeli electorate.

“There are millions of Israelis who don't want to argue anymore. They've had enough of irresponsibility and corruption. They've had enough of the embarrassing cult of personality playing out before them. In the Israel unity government there will be three right wing parties, two centrist parties and two left wing parties. That's what unity looks like. When different people with different opinions decide to work together.”

“Since the elections I've been in close contact with all the relevant party leaders, I've spoken to them all, met with them all, more than once. We all understand that it's time for change. There is a rare willingness, I don't remember anything similar, to put aside past arguments, to join forces, to focus on the economy and society, to stop the process which is causing Israelis to hate one another.”

“People ask me – how will you work together? The answer is: Much better, more fairly and more honestly than the current government. Because we won't work for ourselves, but for the people of Israel.The leaders of the parties in the Israeli unity government won't cheat one another. It will be a government of stability because we want it to succeed. Because we believe in a shared goal.”

“That's our goal. To form a government whose strength will be drawn from its commitment to the good of the country. There will be different worldviews but we are all Zionists, we are all Israeli patriots. A stable government which believes in cooperation is something we haven't seen in Israel for a long time. It can happen three weeks from now.”