Labor head says she wants Netanyahu out of power, but Smotrich and Ben Gvir can stay

Labor party leader Merav Michaeli is going on the attack against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling Army Radio that she could live with a government that includes far-right figures so long as it is no longer led by him.

“Labor supports switching out Netanyahu even during the current coalition. He is not fit and he endangers Israel,” she says. “True, it would be far from perfect and [Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich will be there, but if it is headed by someone not working for his own interests, our situation would already be better.”

Michaeli, who is set to step down from her leadership position in Labor once a successor is found, says Likud lawmakers support removing Netanyahu “but are afraid” to go against him publicly.

“Netanyahu is waging war with Biden, the president who came to Israel’s aid, and destroying ties with the US. And now Egyptian President [Abdel-Fattah] el-Sissi, who has mediated in talks [with Hamas] won’t answer his calls,” she says.

She also calls for Likud to remove party MK Tali Gotliv from the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, after she was publicly rebuked for spreading conspiracy theories about a protest leader and the Mossad.

“It’s the least they could do after the MK endangered Israel’s security during war,” she says.