Lapid again pledges ‘safety net’ for Gaza plan, says PM ‘stealing credit’ for breakthrough

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid again reiterates his pledge to provide Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a political “safety net” to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan for ending the war in Gaza and returning the hostages, declaring that “we will do everything to ensure that the deal goes through as planned.”

Addressing a press conference in Tel Aviv marking the impending end of the current parliamentary recess, the Yesh Atid party chairman insists that Netanyahu “has no political impediment to finishing the process that President Trump began this week.”

Lapid says that he is willing to agree on a date for the next elections and to provide the premier with “insurance against his extremist and irresponsible partners,” a reference to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Last week, Smotrich set out his Religious Zionism party’s “red lines” for the deal, including “ending the war only with the full and genuine dismantling and demilitarization of Hamas and the Gaza Strip,” which he said cannot be controlled by the Palestinian Authority in any way, shape, or form.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Ben Gvir threatened that his far-right Otzma Yehudit party would leave the government if Hamas “continues to exist” after the release of the hostages under the Trump plan.

Speaking with the Israel Hayom daily, officials from Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism said that their parties would not vote in favor of freeing security prisoners as part of the deal.

Lapid tells reporters that both before and after Trump presented his proposed outline, he assured the White House that his promise of a safety net for Netanyahu “was real” and that was his “commitment to the American administration as well.”

“For the first time in two years, the citizens of Israel have a glimmer of hope,” Lapid asserts, arguing that the possibility of ending “he longest war in Israel’s history…must not be allowed to slip away.”

“I have had a series of conversations with President Trump’s team over the past two days. They are convinced that it is possible. They are convinced that it should happen. They also know exactly how this deal really came about,” he continues — arguing that the deal “was made thanks to President Trump, and in spite of Benjamin Netanyahu.”

“Yesterday I saw Netanyahu trying, as usual, to steal credit for it. That is excellent. Because it will obligate him and the government to the White House to implement the deal,” he says.

Lapid has been promising to provide Netanyahu with a safety net in exchange for agreeing to a hostage deal for nearly two years.