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''The budget is right around the corner, there is quite a lot of work to be done and we need to cope with a very complicated security situation. … There is no reason whatsoever to quit a functioning government, which must deal with very complex challenges.''
It's highly doubtful whether this clear statement by Finance Minister Yair Lapid, in an interview on Israel Army Radio the morning of June 30, had a calming effect on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In recent weeks, Netanyahu has been preparing himself for an extreme scenario in which the coalition falls apart over a crisis generated by one of its partners: Lapid's Yesh Atid Party or the HaBayit HaYehudi Party of Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett.
