From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Lapid: No possibility of unity government under Netanyahu in wake of Zini’s actions, US midterms
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Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the US midterm election results and the actions of Shin Bet chief David Zini mean that there is no possibility of a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Zini last night and the American election results in the morning have led to one unforeseen consequence: they eliminate any possibility of a unity government led by Netanyahu,” Lapid says.
“Israel cannot afford to let him remain prime minister. It endangers security, it endangers democracy, it will ruin our standing in the world,” he says.
Democrats chairman Yair Golan similarly warns that the US midterm results show “just how toxic Netanyahu has become among both Democrats and Republicans.”
He cautions that the continued tenure of Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir could put Israel on a path toward “international sanctions, international isolation and confrontation with the United States, our friend and most important ally.”
The statements come after the Republicans suffered a wave of defeats in the US midterms, widely seen as a rebuke of US President Donald Trump’s policies.
Zini is seeking to question four Arab politicians in a case of alleged foreign election interference, but hasn’t provided prosecutors with evidence regarding three of them, reports say.
Netanyahu’s Likud party, meanwhile, issued a statement accusing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of preventing the interrogations. She in turn responded with a scathing statement, effectively accusing Zini — a controversial Netanyahu appointee — of trying to undermine the rule of law.
The Times of Israel Community.