Lapid: If Netanyahu wins the next election, ‘it will be the end of Zionism’

Israelis are facing “the last chance to save the country,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares, insisting that if Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s coalition wins the elections again, it will be the end of Zionism.”

Addressing political activists at a gathering of his Yesh Atid party in Tel Aviv, Lapid insists that “if we don’t save the country now, in two years, there will be nothing left to save. The window of opportunity will close.”

Israelis currently are presented with two choices: “a successful, sophisticated, world-renowned first-world country, with liberal values ​​and love for Jewish tradition and a strong sense of community, or a violent and backward third-world country, which turns Judaism into racism and wants to eliminate our democracy,” he insists.

Declaring that Israel needs to pass a constitution, improve its education system, and “protect the police and the courts,” Lapid argues that “only with us can you be 100 percent sure that no one will steal your vote and pass it on to Netanyahu after the elections.”

Opposition politicians ranging from Gadi Eisenkot to Naftali Bennett have all “declared that they will be prime minister, or at least defense minister,” and while he has “no problem with people having ambitions,” somebody “also needs to know how to take all these forces and build a government from them,” Lapid says.

“We are in an election year. Apart from Yesh Atid, there is no one who knows how to do it. If you want this to happen, if you really want us to win the elections and form a government, Yesh Atid must be big, must be strong, must lead the camp,” he adds.

The next national election must be held by October 27, 2026.