The Likud party on Sunday evening blasted Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid, who earlier on Sunday criticized the conduct of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the wake of the anti-Israel resolution passed by the UN Security Council.
Lapid, in a post on Facebook, criticized Netanyahu for reprimanding the United States ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, whose country broke with longstanding protocol and abstained during the vote on the “anti-settlement” resolution.
"What has been done since the decision of the Security Council has only worsened the damage,” wrote Lapid.
“You do not cancel a meeting with the British Prime Minister this way, you do not talk this way to a serving American president (because not everything that is permitted in talkbacks on the internet is also acceptable for the leadership), you do not scold ambassadors who are only doing their job, you do not prohibit ministers from travelling to friendly countries with which we have trade and defense relations,” he continued.
Lapid called on Israel to put together a coherent, practical and thorough plan of action, which will prevent damage to the Israeli economy, state security and international relations. “What we need right now is to strengthen our foreign relations, not weaken them,” he concluded.
In response, the Likud said that "Yair Lapid's response is not surprising to anyone. This is the same weak policy that the left has been leading for many years: If someone gives you a slap, turn the other cheek. Lapid proves once again that he runs a leftist party in disguise - nothing more."
The comments mark the second time this past week that the Likud has criticized Lapid’s actions, the first one coming last week when Yesh Atid refused to sign a law allowing the removal of MK Basel Ghattas from the Knesset.
"This doesn't surprise me. It is disappointing but not surprising since he is a left-winger heading a left-wing party," Netanyahu said at the time, adding that "Yair Lapid is trying to hide the fact that he is leading a left-wing party but now that fact has been revealed to everyone. I hope that he will change his mind but the public will certainly change their minds about him."