Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke on Thursday at a conference organized by Channel 12 and said that he is ready to have a televised pre-election debate with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s office responded to Lapid on Thursday evening and said they are "considering the matter - but the chances are low."

Lapid claimed in his remarks that "Netanyahu has run away every time for 15 years from a debate, so I wouldn't count on it if I were you. But if he comes - I will also come gladly."

Netanyahu has been avoiding televised debate for many years following an unsuccessful debate with Yitzhak Mordechai in the 1999 elections.

Sources close to the opposition leader estimated that "the TV channels will not agree on one interviewer" in an apparent attempt to find a way out to avoid a televised debate.