Yair Lapid warns of huge crisis if 'angry Democrats win'

He says Netayahu harmed bipartisan relationship

By GIL HOFFMAN
MK Yair Lapid, Leader of the Opposition and Chair of Yesh Atid-Telem in conversation with Yaakov Katz (photo credit: JERUSALEM POST)
MK Yair Lapid, Leader of the Opposition and Chair of Yesh Atid-Telem in conversation with Yaakov Katz
(photo credit: JERUSALEM POST)
If Democrats who are angry at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for aligning himself with US President Donald Trump and the Republicans take over the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, there will be a “huge crisis” for Israel, opposition leader Yair Lapid warned at Tuesday’s Jerusalem Post Conference.
YAIR LAPID
Speaking in an interview with Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz, Lapid said Israel must prepare for the possibility that Trump will be replaced by presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the November 3 election.
“There is a breakdown in bipartisan ties, and it’s Netanyahu’s fault,” Lapid said.
Lapid spoke strongly against unilateral annexation in the West Bank and said his Yesh Atid-Telem faction’s MKs would vote against it if it came to the Knesset.
“There is a difference between an agreement and unilateral annexation, which is bad for Israel and bad for security,” he said.
Lapid warned that annexation would be a step toward there being one binational state, which he said would be the end of Zionism.
“The dream of the State of Israel would be over,” he said. “I don’t want a Palestinian majority. I want to separate from the Palestinians.”
Lapid said Netanyahu’s government was also “mismanaging” the coronavirus and its economic implications.
“A bit of modesty should be required, because we are not in a great place,” he said. “People waited for money that didn’t come. The compensation mechanism didn’t work.”
Lapid also lashed out at his former political ally, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, for saying that he was joining the government to help fight the coronavirus and then not taking any posts in the government or the Knesset that had to do with the virus.
“It was just an excuse to have a lot of ministries,” Lapid charged.