Lapid: Netanyahu 'disconnected' from the public

Former finance minister says PM has ‘no interest in advancing us politically, economically or socially’

Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, charging that the Likud party leader didn’t have a clear plan for the country and was “disconnected” from the public.

Lapid’s latest remarks came in response to Netanyahu’s interview with Channel 2 Tuesday, in which he blamed Lapid and former prime minister Ehud Olmert for the rise in housing prices.

“The one thing that interests him is remaining prime minister,” Lapid told Israel Radio, saying the prime minister has “no interest in advancing us politically, economically or socially.”

Lapid went on to accuse Netanyahu of hypocritical support of a two-state solution, saying, “Every year he makes a speech in English supporting a two-state solution, hoping the members of the Likud Central Committee won’t notice, but then does nothing about it.”

Netanyahu scathingly attacked his predecessor, Olmert, and his erstwhile ally, Lapid in an interview on Tuesday.

“Why did the price of apartments go up? Because the Olmert government took an outrageous decision to stop building and planning in the central region. We started to deal with that two years ago, but the treatment was stopped because we got a trendy party that was bigger than our party,” Netanyahu said referring to Lapid’s Yesh Atid party.

“Lapid stopped the decision to evacuate IDF bases from the areas in demand [for living space] and I needed to fire him and make the decision to continue. ”

Netanyahu went on to say that the decision to appoint Lapid as finance minister was not a willing one. “I think his appointment was forced on us to a large amount,” he said.

Lapid, swept into the Knesset during the 2013 elections at the head of the 19-strong Yesh Atid faction with a platform promising socioeconomic reform. However, tensions between Netanyahu and Lapid over the 2015 budget, economic policies and security issues resulted in Lapid’s firing and a breakdown in the coalition late last year.

In the wake of the Yisrael Beytenu graft scandal, Lapid launched a campaign focusing on the need to eradicate political corruption and attacked Netanyahu for his household expenditures which sparked public criticism of the prime minister last year.

Recent polls project heavy losses in the upcoming elections for Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, with some surveys showing it halving its Knesset standing from 19 Knesset seats last time to 10 or less.

Despite the harsh criticisms, both the prime minister and former finance minister have stated recently they would not rule out the possibility of a future coalition.

Stuart Winer contributed to this report.