Lapid: I’ve never been more worried for Israel

Asked how worried he is about the situation in Israel at present, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says “I’ve never been more worried in my life.”

The families of hostages are protesting, and the response of the government “is to attack them,” he protests, in a Channel 12 interview.

He says today’s demonstrations, which he will shortly address, underline that while going to elections in mid-war “is not ideal,” it is necessary “because this government won’t fix the budget, won’t fix the [Haredi] draft and, especially, won’t bring home the hostages. And you know what? It also won’t win the war because we won’t have the world with us and won’t have the people of Israel [fully united].”

“This is an existential moment” for Israel, he says. “The people who were supposed to keep our children safe failed to do so… The soul of the state is bleeding.”

Faith in the leadership has to be restored, and so too the sense that the leadership is committed to protecting the people,” he says.