Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, June 1, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, June 1, 2024
Lapid: Threats from Smotrich and Ben Gvir are an abandonment of Israel’s security and residents
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (left) leads a meeting of his Yesh Atid party at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement on May 22, 2024. (Screen capture)
Following warnings from ultranationalist ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir that they will quit the government should Israel move ahead with the latest proposal for a hostage release and ceasefire deal, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams them for making threats which “abandon national security, the hostages, and the residents of the north and the south.”
“This is the worst and most wanton government in the country’s history,” he continues. “As far as they’re concerned, there could be war here forever.”
Earlier Saturday, Lapid said Israel “must do this deal, now… before the hostages die there [in Gaza].”
