Lapid tells Netanyahu to ‘take responsibility’ for his failures, says no PM has weakened Israel more
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Addressing lawmakers at the opening of the Knesset winter legislative session, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid launches into a full-throated attack on the government, arguing that “there has been no prime minister who weakened the State of Israel more than” Benjamin Netanyahu.
Railing against the coalition from the plenum rostrum, Lapid argues that while Israel has had successes in taking out Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, Netanyahu and his government need to pull back on their “hubris” and arrogant talk.
“If you want credit for the successes, take responsibility for the failures as well,” he says. “If you want credit for the death of Nasrallah, take responsibility for the death of [hostage] Carmel Gat. If you want credit for the death of Sinwar, take responsibility for those murdered in [Kibbutz] Nir Oz. If you want credit for the assassination of Haniyeh, take responsibility for Nova,” the music festival where hundreds were brutally killed on October 7.
“The one who led us to the greatest disaster in our history cannot claim to be the right man to get us out of it. You are not,” he tells Netanyahu.
“There is a prime minister who is only focused on himself, in front of a wounded and bleeding nation, inciting and then whining that others are inciting against him, portraying himself as a victim who is being attacked and then bragging that he is a ‘strong prime minister from the right,'” Lapid continues. “Mr. Netanyahu, there was no prime minister who weakened the State of Israel more than you.”
If Netanyahu were really a strong prime minister he would stand up to the ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition and tell them while Israel is at war and soldiers are dying every day, there will be no “evasion law,” says Lapid — referring to a bill widely exempting Haredi yeshiva students from military service that is currently being debated in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“If you cared about the country, you would say to [Haredi party leaders] Goldknopf and Deri, ‘Your threats do not work on me; there is no contradiction between studying Torah and defending the homeland. It is over, now,'” Lapid goes on. “A truly Zionist government would not even think of passing the disgrace called ‘the evasion law.'”
“This government has been in office for two years, since the end of December 2022. Is there one positive change that this government is able to name? One good thing you did for the citizens of Israel?” he asks.
“Have more missiles ever hit Israel? Have more civilians and soldiers ever died in Israel? Have more residents ever been evacuated from their homes for a longer period of time? Did you ever think, in your worst nightmares, that hundreds of Israeli citizens would be abandoned to a terrorist organization, and die in the tunnels?”
Turning to members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, Lapid argues that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has ruined the economy. And he slams National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for “gloating at the scenes of terrorist attacks instead of preventing them,” adding that the far-right politician is the “only person in the Israeli Knesset who was convicted of supporting terrorism.”
“The statistics don’t lie. Since he became the minister, there have been more attacks, more murders, more crime, more terrorism. A hundred in words, zero in deeds,” he declares.
Ben Gvir yells at Lapid and a heated exchange ensues between the two. Likud MK Tally Gotliv also begins screaming at Lapid and is ejected from the plenum chamber.
Ben Gvir heckles Lapid as he addresses the opening of the Knesset winter legislative session.
Lapid hits back: “Minister Ben Gvir, the statistics don’t lie. Since you became the minister, there are more terror attacks, more murders, more terror.” pic.twitter.com/GZCw8DA0fg
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) October 28, 2024
The exchange comes only minutes after President Herzog directed an impassioned plea for decorum and respect toward lawmakers, arguing that Israel’s enemies “have worked hard to inflame internal conflict” and that Iran and its proxies “place at the heart of their campaign against Israel the destruction of Israeli trust.”