Leader of the Opposition, Yair Lapid, addressed tomorrow's elections in the United States at the beginning of the Yesh Atid Telem Knesset Faction meeting:
"The next President of the United States will be a friend of Israel.
I've got great relations with Republicans but the difference between me and Netanyahu is that I always made sure I maintained friendly and positive relations with the Democrats in the House and Senate as well
Tomorrow are the elections in the United States. It's a tight race but there are things we already know: The next President of the United States will be a friend of Israel. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are friends of Israel with a deep commitment to Israel and to Zionism.
There is one troubling aspect in the relationship – until a few years Israel was above politics in the United States. We were a bi-partisan issue. All the governments of Israel preserved good relations with the Democrats and the Republicans.
Netanyahu decided, mostly for internal reasons, to break with that principle. Netanyahu created an almost complete identification between the current Israeli government and the Republican Party, between himself and President Trump. He wanted to use President Trump's justified popularity in Israel to gain some points at home.
That is a serious mistake with serious consequences in the United States. I warned him against that mistake time and again. Netanyahu refused to listen and now Israel is losing the Democratic Party because of him.
Within the Democratic Party radical voices are growing stronger. Anti-Israel actors are working hard within the party. I obviously don't like that but the solution is not to push the Democratic Party further away. Instead of working with the Democrats smartly and with patience, Netanyahu's approach is playing into the hands of the radical elements. He's pushing the Democrats further and further away. We don't want to find ourselves with a Democratic Party in the United States acting like the British Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.
We can prevent that. We can and should work with the leadership of the Democratic Party, the vast majority of them are still pro-Israel. Even if the Democrats lose the race for the White House they'll still control the House and maybe the Senate as well. We will need them, on security issues, on economic issues. Israel cannot afford to be a branch of the Republican Party.
I've got great relations with Republicans but the difference between me and Netanyahu is that I always made sure I maintained friendly and positive working relations with Democrats in the House and Senate as well.
Netanyahu knows all this but like always the only thing that concerns him is his personal interest, only public relations, only his relations with certain Republican billionaires. Even on this critical issue, something with Netanyahu has changed for the worse.
It's time for the next generation of leaders, in foreign relations as well."