Israeli Opposition Leader Calls for New Elections Amid Gaza War
The leader of the opposition in the Israeli parliament, Yair Lapid, publicly called for new elections in the country amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Lapid is the first opposition leader in Israel to outright call for new elections since the country’s war against Hamas began following the terror group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel.
Lapid, who leads the centrist Yesh Atid party in Israel’s unicameral legislative body and supreme governmental authority, the Knesset, told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Sunday that he thinks it is time for new leadership.
“[Benjamin] Netanyahu cannot continue as prime minister,” he said, adding that “elections can be held during the war.”
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Sunday was not the first time Lapid has called for a change in the country’s leadership in recent months, having publicly urged Benjamin Netanyahu to step down as prime minister on multiple occasions since Hamas’ attack. However, the Yesh Atid leader’s outright call for a wartime election and, in effect, the installation of an entirely new government represents a major rhetorical shift in the country’s political discourse and a blow to Netanyahu’s recently assembled wartime unity government.
Many of Netanyahu’s domestic political opponents, Lapid included, have expressed the belief that the current government is culpable for the major national security failure of the October 7 attack and have implored his resignation on those grounds.
Among the Israeli public, Netanyahu’s approval is similarly poor. According to a recent poll published by the Lazar Research Institute for the Israeli newspaper Maariv, just under 30% of Israelis think Netanyahu is the right person to lead the government.
Based on the same poll, retired army general and leader of the National Unity political alliance, Benny Gantz, is the most popular politician to replace Netanyahu, with just under 50% of Israelis saying Gantz should lead the country.
Gantz, who is a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, has previously pushed against calls for elections while the war still rages.
