Yair Lapid: This isn’t a unity government, it’s a Netanyahu government

This statement comes after the Blue and White Party split on Thursday.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, GIL HOFFMAN
Yair Lapid speaking on March 26, 2020 (photo credit: ELAD GUTTMAN)
Yair Lapid speaking on March 26, 2020
(photo credit: ELAD GUTTMAN)
The Blue and White Party that served as the alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the March 2 election, broke up on Thursday after party head Benny Gantz decided to enter Netanyahu's government.
Following Gantz's election as Knesset speaker and the splitting up of the Blue and White Party, Yair Lapid gave a statement, saying that, "What’s being formed today isn’t a unity government. It’s another Netanyahu government."
Lapid also called Gantz's move to "crawl into Netanyahu’s government," a  "disappointing decision."
Despite Lapid's stated belief that "the coronavirus crisis is one of the most serious in the history of [Israel]," he said that the crisis is not a reason "to abandon our values. We promised not to sit under a Prime Minister with three criminal indictments. We promised not to sit in a coalition of extremists and extortionists. We said we wouldn’t allow anyone to undermine Israel’s democracy."
"The Coronavirus crisis raises serious questions: How many hospital beds do we have, how many do we need? How many tests do we have, how many do we need? How will we protect our medical staff? How will we protect our parents? How will we fully re-start the economy? The economy side of this crisis is being badly mismanaged. In Korea unemployment fell to 3.3%, in Israel it’s over 20%. What are they doing right that we’re not doing? How will we protect businesses? How will we protect workers? How will we make sure that everyone sat at home today will have a job to go back to?"
Commenting on the original ideas behind the party, Lapid said: "We formed Blue and White to offer an alternative to the Israeli people. A decent, honest, values-driven centrist party. The election results proved that Israel needed that alternative like we need air to breathe."
"We will support any decision that will help the healthcare system. Help put the economy back on track. We’ll keep a watchful eye on this government. We have plans. We have experience. We have a national responsibility. As always, we’ll work for the nation of Israel and the people of Israel," Lapid added.
The three parties that made up Blue and White - Gantz's Israel Resilience, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid and Moshe Ya'alon's Telem - all went in different directions. Israel Resilience is joining the government, Lapid will head the opposition and Telem will split up, with Ya'alon on the outside and MKs Tzvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel in.