Israel’s Lapid fighting to leverage Netanyahu’s coronavirus failure
Yesh Atid leader and opposition chair Yair Lapid fails to leverage his energy and gain momentum, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is highly criticized over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
When the Blue and White party had a noisy breakup last March, it looked like the party’s No. 2 candidate — Yair Lapid — finally had his chance to offer an alternative to Benjamin Netanyahu in the prime minister’s office. Six months later, Lapid might have missed his chance.
The third election round in a row on March 2 did not produce a clear winner. Lapid led the party’s aggressive line against joining a Netanyahu government. But the coronavirus pandemic reshuffled the deck. Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz decided that it was in the country’s best interests for him to join an emergency government headed by Netanyahu. Lapid refused to join and the party split, after almost replacing Netanyahu in power. With the collapse of Blue and White, hundreds of thousands of Israelis saw their hopes for a different future dashed.
More so, this rift was the cause of enormous disappointment among the center-left. Throughout it all, Lapid seemed to be a man of principles, especially when compared to former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. It was Gantz who broke his election promise by entering the new coalition, even though the prime minister was under indictment for bribery.
After the split, Lapid returned to his old position as head of the Yesh Atid party, one of the partners in Blue and White. When the new government was formed in May, he also became head of the opposition, another powerful government position and an ideal launching pad for anyone seeking to become prime minister.
