Yair Lapid
Telem and Yesh Atid were originally members of Blue and White, but left the bloc when Benny Gantz decided to join Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Given the interviews that the defense minister and opposition leader gave over the weekend, it appears that a path to a renewed partnership between the two former allies is particularly unlikely.
The move saves state coffers NIS 8 million ($2.3 million) immediately with the amount expected to more than double should a wage cut be instated across the public sector.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and MK Zvi Hauser are among the 100 lawmakers behind a joint letter to the E.U. foreign minister calling for ministerial-level talks.
As head of the largest party not in the government, the Yesh Atid-Telem chairman will be privy to security briefings and meet with visiting dignitaries.
“The people wanted unity, and that is what it got,” says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Former Blue and White co-chairman Yair Lapid blasts erstwhile ally Benny Gantz over unity deal, apologizes to voters • Likud sources: “Netanyahu wants Yamina as full-fledged partners on the right.”
“Racists are racists are racists, and Jeremy Corbyn is a racist,” says Blue and White Party No. 2 Yair Lapid at the Israel Allies Foundation’s annual Chairman’s Conference.
Israeli Defense Minister Bennett: “The new rules of the game are clear” • Lapid: Elimination of Baha Abu al-Ata an “extraordinary achievement,” but “Israeli deterrence is practically nonexistent.”
Blue and White offers Netanyahu a power-sharing deal if he leaves office for the next two years • Gantz to Netanyahu: “I don’t want to see you behind bars. I hope you are innocent, but we need a prime minister.”
Yisrael Beiteinu leader: If there’s no progress by Yom Kippur, “we will enter any effort to form a government in high gear”; Netanyahu: “Yair Lapid is the only reason there is no unity government.”
Likud ministers claim Blue and White No. 2 Yair Lapid is intent on preventing a power-sharing agreement between party leader Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
