The Israeli Labor Party and Meretz have warned on Wednesday that the electoral campaign outlined by Prime Minister Yair Lapid is «irresponsible» and could lead to Benjamin Netanyahu once again becoming Israel’s chief executive after the elections scheduled for November 1.
Thus, they have accused Lapid of having a «selfish» electoral strategy that puts the strength of his own party first, which could endanger the electoral situation of his allies.
If Labor or Meretz obtain less than 3.25 percent of the support needed to enter Parliament, Netanyahu’s bloc would almost certainly have a parliamentary majority.
Meretz leader Zehava Galon has warned that Lapid is making a «terrible mistake» and that this «will only benefit Netanyahu.» «These calculations will only promote greater power in the hands of Netanyahu, it is clearly true,» she said before lamenting that Meretz «is in danger», according to information gathered by the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.
From the Labor Party similar criticisms are coming from the possibility that the deputies of the formation will be left out of the Knesset because they have few supporters. «It is better to work to increase support for the bloc by attracting votes from other sectors instead of confronting us or Meretz,» said a senior member of the party.
With just under a week to go before the elections, Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and its main ally, the National Unity Party headed by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, have registered an increase in tension.
Faced with the possibility that Lapid’s bloc will not win the seats needed to obtain a majority, Gantz has positioned himself as a possible new prime minister and has advocated creating a coalition leaving the ultra-Orthodox parties off Netanyahu’s radar.
However, sources close to Yesh Atid have assured that the formation «will never sit in a government led by Gantz» and have indicated that these are «fantasies.» «It is only a matter of time before Gantz accepts the fact that Lapid is the leader of the bloc and that he will be the one to form the government,» he said, before insisting that «if he wants to bring in the ultra-Orthodox he will have to bring in the bloc as a whole.»
