Lapid knows what he's talking about
Op-ed: The comments made by a senior minister in Netanyahu's government, who has been at the prime minister's side for the past 18 months, are alarming. Each component on this list deserves its own commission of inquiry.
"You are out of touch," he said, exposing us to Yesh Atid's election slogan, which could become the slogan of the entire centrist bloc: "Bibi, you are out of touch."
Lapid's accurate grocery list on Netanyahu's shameful behavior made Netanyahu's grocery list from the day before sound like an adolescent's diary.
The comments made by Lapid, a senior minister in Netanyahu's government who presents himself as someone who knows what he's talking about, someone who has been at Netanyahu's side for the past 18 months, were alarming and definitely justify asking what were Lapid and Tzipi Livni doing there until now.
If this is how the prime minister behaved, and if this is their opinion of him, why did they wait for him to fire them?
Every ingredient on this list is worthy of its own commission of inquiry and should make us to lose sleep, if the corruption Lapid detailed Wednesday is indeed taking place in the most important bureau in the State of Israel and in the most prestigious and secret forums.
One thing is already clear: The upcoming election campaign will focus on a person rather than on an issue. That person's name is Benjamin Netanyahu, and it seems that the most significant consensus among the parties – which is the issue they will go to the elections on – is how much they loathe him.
Lapid tried Wednesday to refute Netanyahu's thesis, the one which made the prime minister dissolve his government and call elections. There was no putsch, Lapid said, personally turning to the prime minister. Had Netanyahu been there, Lapid would have likely asked him to look him in the eyes. "I tried to organize a putsch against you?" he asked. "Are you listening to yourself? Who sold you this nonsense?"
So who sold Netanyahu this story? That must be the million-dollar question circulating around the political system these days. Who told Netanyahu that Lapid or people on his behalf approached the ultra-Orthodox parties and suggested that they establish an alternative government together?
This story sounds so delusional, and the thought that someone believed haredi Knesset Members Aryeh Deri and Yakov Litzman would crown Lapid as prime minister is so foolish, that it's really difficult to understand how Netanyahu bought into this lie.
And because there is no evidence on the ground that such an attempt really took place, the only thing left is the haredi party leaders' testimony that Lapid tried to persuade them to establish an alternative government.
I suggest that each of us think who he or she believes. We may get the answer after the elections, when the alliance between Netanyahu and the haredim – an alliance they are firmly denying now – is exposed. Then we'll know who we should believe.
