From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 20, 2024
Lapid urges Gantz to leave coalition immediately
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"
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on National Unity leader Benny Gantz to leave the coalition, arguing that he “can’t wait three weeks” until his ultimatum to Netanyahu expires.
“We need this time to make a supreme effort to topple the government,” he declares. “Try to imagine him still prime minister on [next] October 7 — it’s a chilling thought.”
On Saturday evening, Gantz issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu, threatening to withdraw from the coalition unless the premier commits to an agreed-upon vision for the Gaza conflict by June 8.
After his press conference, Yair Lapid accused him of doing too little too late.
“Enough. Get out of there,” Lapid said on Saturday. “Enough with the press conferences, enough with the empty ultimatums, get out! If you weren’t sitting in government, we would already be beyond the era of Netanyahu and Ben Gvir.”
Without Gantz’s party in the coalition, Netanyahu would have a slim majority of 64 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
