Amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign because he had lost the trust of the public.
In an interview conducted by the Israeli Channel 12 on Wednesday evening, November 15, Lapid said, “Netanyahu cannot remain prime minister of Israel. We need a national reform government. He must leave now.”
Lapid expressed concerns about the prime minister’s loss of public trust and deemed a lengthy campaign under such circumstances unfeasible.
He criticized Israeli leaders for their perceived inability to prevent the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7.
He added, “There is no need to go to elections. We need a different government in this Knesset. We need another prime minister from Likud. We will talk to the Likud leaders, there are many, many people there who understand that the country has gone to a bad place.”
He said, “I think that like any Israeli citizen, what matters to me in the end is the main thing – that there be an effective government. I am ready to share my party and enter into a government led by Likud.”
Lapid proposed “forming a government with Likud, with the Haredim, with Lieberman and with the state camp,” adding that “the problem today is that the government is not doing its job.”
The Likud Party criticized Lapid’s proposal to dismiss the Prime Minister and establish a Palestinian state, stating it was shameful and unfortunate for Lapid to practice politics during the war.
On November 4, Israeli settlers in Tel Aviv protested against Netanyahu’s resignation, demanding immediate release of their children from Gaza, and demanding answers and measures from him for the current failure.
Israel’s parliament has appointed Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, marking the country’s most far-right, religiously conservative government in history, on December 29, 2022.
Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and wounded 5,431 in an October 7 attack, capturing 239 and seeking to exchange them with over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
For 41 days, the Israeli army has wreaked havoc on Gaza, killing more than 11,500 Palestinians, and causing 29,800 injuries, 70 percent of which are children and women.
