Likud responds to Prime Minister Lapid’s first address

In a brief response to Yair Lapid’s first speech as prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party issues a statement without commenting on the speech’s content and using its frequent talking points.

“No statement by Lapid will hide the fact that it was revealed: that he sent his CEO with an open check to the [Islamic Movement’s] Shura Council,” the Likud statement says, referring to comments made by a former diplomatic adviser to Naftali Bennett.

“The only government he can form is with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Joint List,” the Likud says. The predominantly Arab Joint List party has never been in an Israeli coalition government.

“The choice is a blackmailed Lapid government that includes the Muslim Brotherhood and the Joint List or a strong national government led by Netanyahu and the Likud that will return hope to Israel,” the statement adds.

In a later post on Facebook, the Likud responded to several points in Lapid’s speech, and added that he failed to mention the rising costs of consumer goods.