Yesh Atid Chairman MK Yair Lapid reacted harshly to public opinion polls that classified his party as politically left-wing.
"Who did you call left?" he wrote. According to Lapid, the classification is a result of systematic branding by his political opponents: "The propaganda machine has worked on this for years. They did everything to brand us as left-wing, despite knowing that it was untrue."
The opposition leader insisted that his party is not left-wing, and does not even hide its nationalist and economic positions: "The Land of Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish people, by virtue of history and by virtue of the Bible. In the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Israel is right. We do not accept the idea of the 'Nakba,' which is meant to challenge the very legitimacy of the state's creation."
He added that his party opposes "all religious coercion, but Judaism is the state religion and our Jewish identity is the basis of our Zionism. We believe in strengthening Israel's security in any situation and under any condition, and in our right to use force to preserve the state's well-being and power."
Regarding his party's economic positions, Lapid wrote: "We believe in a free market economy, in reducing government involvement, in ending the welfare culture, in assisting businesses." He added that "we believe that there is a need for a judicial reformthat would anchor the relations between the branches of government with a constitution, and would mend the system with the understanding that conservatism means that the changes are made with caution."
He also noted that his party believes "that the State of Israel needs to determine its own destiny and the international bodies have no right or ability to dictate moves that harm our security or sovereignty."
He claimed that Yesh Atid believes in civilian elections, but not at the cost of state security. "Israel has, for instance, the full right to block entry to those who slander it in the world or to work to close organizations like UNRWA."
"We believe that every Jewish child in Israel must learn the Bible and know it thoroughly.
"On all this, the Likud says: 'You're leftists! We are the right,'" Lapid stated and continued criticizing the rival party: "Yeah, sure, you, who executed the Disengagement Plan, you, who voted for the Oslo Accords, you, who increased the government bureaucracy to obsurd dimensions, you, who neglected security until October 7th happened, you, who allowed Qatar to infiltrate the Prime Minister's Office."
He added: "You, who took 60 billion shekels from taxpayers every year and gave them to draft dodgers, you, who ignored the distress of Israel's middle class, you, who neglected public education, you, who turned corruption into a way of life. You call yourselves right-wing."