Lapid to business leaders: Lack of functioning government is Israel’s biggest economic problem

By Sam Sokol 24 November 2025, 11:29 am

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"

Opposition leader and Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, October 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tells business leaders that under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel is suffering from a nonfunctional and incapable government that does not serve the best economic interests of its people.

“The biggest economic problem of the State of Israel is that we do not have a functioning government. There is no government here in the technical sense – a functioning, working body, with managerial capabilities and an economic vision, that deals with the lives of citizens. That sees ahead,” Lapid tells a conference of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce.

“I want to tell you what kind of government I want to establish here — a government of 18 ministers. Without coalition funds. A government that says without blinking: anyone who does not enlist [in the IDF] and then goes to work, will not receive a single shekel from the state,” he continues.

“The idea is a functioning government, that thing we’ve forgotten, or lost faith could even happen. In the end, that’s what we need most: a government that manages and is managed, and wants what’s best for us. But it won’t arise on its own. It will only come into being if we fight for it together,” Lapid adds.

Netanyahu’s cabinet includes 30 ministers.