Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, New Hope party leader Gideon Sa’ar, and leader of the far-right Yisrael Beytenu party, Avigdor Lieberman, are scheduled to meet today to discuss plans to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold early elections.
Sa’ar submitted his resignation from the Israeli emergency government in mid-March, when he stipulated in order for him to remain in the emergency government that he join the war council, about two weeks ago when he broke up the partnership with the head of the “National Camp”, Benny Gantz, the minister in the war council.
Sa’ar joined the “State Camp” coalition led by Benny Gantz – who leads the “Blue and White” party – in the last rounds of elections, and was one of the strongest calls for the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the presidency of the government in light of the corruption files persecuting him.
Illegitimate government
The new meeting between the three comes in light of an internal Israeli political crisis and mounting demands to overthrow the Netanyahu government, go to early elections, and reach a prisoner exchange deal with the resistance in Gaza.
The day before yesterday, Monday, Lapid said in a speech before the Knesset that Netanyahu’s government has lost its competence and is leading Israel towards the abyss.
He added that Netanyahu’s government is responsible for what happened on October 7, noting that this constitutes the greatest catastrophe that has befallen the Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, according to him.
For his part, in an interview with state radio, Avigdor Lieberman accused Netanyahu of pushing Israel into what he called the destruction of the Third Temple, in order for him to remain prime minister, as he put it.
For months, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been leading indirect negotiations between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), with the aim of reaching a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and an exchange of prisoners and detainees between the two parties.
The negotiations did not finally result in the crystallization of an agreement due to Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demand to end the war.
Israeli segments believe that Netanyahu is obstructing reaching a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, and aims to prolong the war for fear of accountability and the collapse of his political future.
Israeli cities are witnessing protests by families of prisoners detained in Gaza, demanding the conclusion of an exchange deal and holding early elections.