MK Yair Lapid
MK Yair LapidAdina Walman, Knesset spokesperson

Opposition head MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) attacked the government this evening, telling Channel 13 News that, “We can change the government without having elections – and I call on MKs from Blue & White to vote no-confidence in the government and make this happen.”

He explained that, “If Blue & White vote no-confidence in the government next week, then we’ll have enough votes – on that very same evening – to form an alternative government with someone different heading it. The identity of that person isn’t what’s important right now,” he added. “But, if what former minister Assaf Zamir said is true – that the Prime Minister is totally mixed up right now – then given the desperate situation we’re in, I call on Blue & White to vote no-confidence. All they are doing now is propping Netanyahu up and allowing his failures to continue.”

Lapid stressed his support of left-wing protests against the Prime Minister, saying: “We’re continuing the demonstrations and I’m part of this. We need to remember the reason why people are coming out to protest – they have been abandoned. When businesses are shut down for no good reason and people are put in lockdown for no good reason – can we really expect them to remain silent? We have the right to say what we’re thinking, and it is totally possible to protest while adhering to the guidelines.”

Lapid also insisted that the only reason why Israel is currently struggling to deal with the coronavirus is its poor leadership. “It’s the same virus everywhere,” he said, “but Israel is dealing with it so much worse than everywhere else, and that is entirely the fault of the government. An effective government could have brought the contagion rate right down.”

Earlier today, there were indeed indications that elements of the Blue & White party (which once included Lapid’s Yesh Atid party until party leader Benny Gantz decided to join Netanyahu in a unity government) are actively considering bolting the coalition. Blue & White’s Miki Haimovich stated on Sunday that, “In recent days, there is a growing number of Blue & White MKs who are thinking about a responsible way of dissolving our partnership with the Likud party and replacing Netanyahu as leader.”

Following Haimovich’s statement, the Likud party issued a statement of its own: “MK Miki Haimovich of Blue & White has revealed the truth – that many of the members of her party, a party that is collapsing in the polls – have decided to go to elections against the will of the people, at the peak of the coronavirus crisis. We call on Benny Gantz to clean up the mess in his party and work toward unity in the government for the sake of saving the lives of Israeli citizens. Otherwise, Blue & White will just be engaging in petty politics at a time of national emergency.”