Lapid calls for early Knesset dissolution and election

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls to dissolve the Knesset next week, which would mean early elections, instead of waiting until the end of October to go to the polls.

Addressing reporters at the Knesset ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting, Lapid says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and its associates have “placed on the Knesset table a series of anti-democratic laws, some of which are a blatant attempt to steal the elections.”

He proposes: “Let’s not drag out another whole summer of corruption and fratricidal hatred. Let’s end this before more irreversible damage is caused to the state. Let’s dissolve the Knesset as early as next week.”

The election is currently slated to be held on October 27. If the Knesset were dissolved next week, it could be held as early as mid-August.

Standing in front of a sign bearing the logo of his “Together” party, a union with former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Lapid argues that their new joint slate “will replace the government and bring correction, unity, change, and healing to the country.”

“In every possible poll, Together is the largest party in the camp,” he says.

Asked about Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot’s statement that uniting without him was “not how you build partnerships,” Lapid replies, “Gadi should join this union; we would be happy to have him and will work with him.”

According to Channel 12, last night, Eisenkot told attendees of a private conference that he is “a very big believer in the duty to form mergers, so that there will be a party significantly larger than Likud.”

“The challenge is to create a connection that will bring 35 and 40 seats. I am committed to this and will do everything to make it happen,” the network cited Eisenkot as saying.