Israeli opposition leader says time has come to replace Netanyahu

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Thursday it was time to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that there would be broad support to form a unity government led by Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party.

Centrist Lapid, who served briefly as prime minister last year, said he believed a large majority of the 120 lawmakers in the Knesset, or parliament, would sign on to such a coalition.

He made his comments as Israel pressed on with its military offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 rampage through southern Israel.

“The time has come – we need to establish a national reconstruction government. Likud will lead it, Netanyahu and the extremists will be replaced, over 90 members of the Knesset will be partners in the coalition for healing and reconnection,” Lapid wrote on social media platform X.

Netanyahu’s Likud is the largest party in Israel’s ruling coalition, which includes ultra-nationalist and religious parties. Together they control 64 seats in parliament.

Lapid refused to join Netanyahu’s war cabinet at the start of the war, though other centrist lawmakers agreed to do so and help manage the conflict.

“I hear those saying this is not the time. We waited 40 days, there is no more time. What we need now is a government that will deal with nothing other than security and the economy,” Lapid wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We can’t afford another election cycle in the coming year in which we continue to fight and explain why the other side is a disaster.”

(Reuters)