Lapid says Netanyahu will ‘end up in jail’ if not re-elected

Chairman of the Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is focusing his re-election campaign on the alleged mishandling of the criminal cases against him in an effort to stay out of jail.

“These elections can’t be about Netanyahu’s investigations. That’s what he wants,” Lapid says in an English-language statement released by the opposition party. “We can’t let him have his way. These elections are about our lives.”

“He wants elections on investigations because if he wins he believes he’ll have a mandate to shut down the investigations,” Lapid says. “He wants power because power gives him the ability to save himself. From his perspective if he won’t be in power, he’ll end up in jail.”

“Netanyahu tried to intimidate the police, the police recommended indicting him. He tried to intimidate the prosecutors, they said there is evidence and that the evidence says he broke the law. He’s trying to intimidate the press. A direct attack on freedom of speech,” Lapid adds.

“There’s another reason that Netanyahu wants these elections to be about the investigations: If they’ll be about anything else, he’ll lose.”