Likud accuses Lapid of trying to form an alternative government

The crisis between the different factions of the Israeli coalition government has been exacerbated by those close to Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Yair Lapid of conspiring to form a separate government.

Israel’s Channel 2 quoted Likud officials as saying that, “Lapid has been conspiring to overthrow the current government”. According to a one of Netanyahu’s confidantes, Lapid threatened to form an alternative government led by Yesh Atid and other opposition parties (a total of 61 MKs) if Netanyahu did not respond to the party’s demands in terms of the budget.

Although Lapid clarified yesterday evening that he is not interested in forming an alternative government or in early elections, those close to Netanyahu confirmed that the Prime Minister is keen on holding early elections in order to “heat up the atmosphere”. Likud officials also announced that they are not interested in meeting social demands when it comes to the national budget.

Israeli newspaper Yehidoth Ahronoth quoted Lapid as saying, “We will not compromise on three main issues and they include: housing budgets, health reform budgets and the military budget. If we fail to reach a consensus on these three issues, we will hold early elections”.

Lapid’s stance is a response to his significant decline in popularity after it was predicted that his party would win less than 19 seats in the Knesset. Netanyahu responded to Lapid’s threats by saying, “Certain members in the coalition are pushing Israel to hold unnecessary elections. We are preparing to hold early elections in May-June of the upcoming year”.