Lapid won’t commit to not sitting in Netanyahu-led government

Party won’t be in coalition led by someone indicted, Yesh Atid leader said.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: MARCH 11, 2018 23:24
Netanyahu and Lapid at a cabinet meeting in October 2014. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Netanyahu and Lapid at a cabinet meeting in October 2014.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid avoided promising outright that his party would sit in a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responding on Sunday to an uproar caused by his party’s faction chairman Ofer Shelah.
“Whoever didn’t understand, and especially those who insist on not understanding, Yesh Atid will not sit in any government in which the prime minister is under indictment,” Lapid wrote on Twitter. “Not under any condition.”
However, Lapid did not write what his party would do if an election is held under current conditions, in which the police recommended to indict Netanyahu but the attorney-general is weighing what to do, or if the attorney-general decides not to indict.
Lapid’s comments came one day after Shelah was asked at an event in Ness Ziona if Yesh Atid would sit in a Netanyahu-led coalition.
“I’m not getting into speculation,” Shelah said. “I don’t think it’s right to say we’re boycotting this and that. The first thing you’re asked in Israeli politics is who you’re boycotting. The answer is: ‘No one.’ We want a government led by Yair Lapid with the central parties in Israel.”
Shelah also said, “A prime minister who is under indictment cannot continue in his job.”
Zionist Union responded in a statement saying, “Yair Lapid and his friends won’t hesitate to sit with Netanyahu again even if he is indicted. Corrupt people should not be partners for anything. Those who claim to fight corruption cannot have double standards on the matter.”
“We commit to taking the place of the corrupt. We will not accept them with open arms,” the statement added.
Shelah came out against the “unnecessary spin” on Sunday, saying: “Netanyahu won’t form the next government. A prime minister who is under indictment cannot continue in his job.”