Lapid estimates elections will take place early 2013

Yesh Atid party head slams incumbent politicians at TA conference; questions coalition's stability. 'This government won't last eighteen months,' he predicts

Shiri Hadar|Published: 05.13.12 , 22:22

Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid expressed his doubts Sunday that the new unity government would survive. "The current government is still standing because of the political, economic and sectorial bribe it pays," said Lapid at a Tel Aviv University conference.

In respect to the current coalition's stability, Lapid said that "the next elections will happen sooner than expected. This government won't last eighteen months. I suppose the next elections will happen sometime in early 2013."

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The journalist-turned-politician who was one of the national unity deal's biggest losers, continued to slam the current government's social policies, and used the renewed social protest as a means of criticizing it.

According to Lapid, "Israel must go through three major changes in order to get back on track – a change in government, a halt in corruption and most importantly, equality for all citizens."

In order to prove his point, Lapid used Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz as an example, calling him a "minister-without-portfolio who is costing the State millions of shekels without actually doing anything."

Lapid further committed to replacing the Tal Law with a more equitable law and also expressed his support of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community in Israel.

He further emphasized that he was not personally against the haredi community, adding that he did not want his party to take an anti-haredi stance. "I want to take part in a government that includes Zionist political parties," Lapid said in response to a question from the audience.