Lapid downplays option he will add Blue and White MKs to Yesh Atid
Lapid said he would prefer his own MKs who did not give into temptation to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
By GIL HOFFMANMK Yair Lapid, Leader of the Opposition and Chair of Yesh Atid-Telem in conversation with Yaakov Katz(photo credit: JERUSALEM POST)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid sounded disinterested when asked by The Jerusalem Post in a Yesh Atid-Telem faction meeting on Monday whether he would take in disgruntled Blue and White MKs who might be looking for a new political home.Lapid said he would favor his own MKs who did not submit to the temptation of joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.“I am not making my list now,” he said. “But around me are the best teammates in Israeli politics. These are people have proven that they can be trusted, that their word is their bond, that they keep their promises and that they won’t cheat the public. Therefore, the people around this table are those we will take to new elections.”But Lapid then added: “Of course, we will talk to everyone when elections are called.”Lapid made the statement amid reports of a threatened rebellion in Blue and White if party leader and Defense Minister Benny Gantz decides to give in and oppose Lapid’s bill to disperse the Knesset on Wednesday.Among Blue and White MKs who favor leaving the government are Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, former minister Asaf Zamir and MKs Miki Haimovich and Ram Shefa. Absorption and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, who shifted from Yesh Atid to Blue and White, is among the MKs most opposed to initiating early elections.Asked whether he was already cooperating in the Knesset with Gantz and Blue and White MKs, Lapid said he had not met with Gantz in the past month, but he had met with others in Blue and White.“I am open to discussion on cooperation to replace this government,” he said. “I am open to any idea that will help replace the government.”Derech Eretz MKs Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser, on the right-wing of the Blue and White faction, and Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich are among the MKs laying the groundwork for a run with Naftali Bennet’s Yamina in the next Knesset.
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