On Monday, the head of Israel’s largest opposition party, Yair Lapid, made a surprising announcement. He said he would support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in parliament if some members of Netanyahu’s coalition quit over a proposed ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has authorized his officials to restart talks with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, to end the fighting in Gaza. This deal also aims to release Israeli hostages taken on October 7.
However, not everyone in Netanyahu’s government agrees with this plan. Some of his coalition partners have threatened to leave the government if the war ends without destroying Hamas and freeing all the hostages. If these partners quit, it could bring down Netanyahu’s government.
Yair Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid party, spoke to his parliamentary group and said, “There’s a hostage deal on the table. It is not true that Netanyahu has to choose between the hostages deal and continuing as prime minister.” Lapid emphasized the importance of the hostages’ release and promised Netanyahu a “safety net” if his coalition partners left. He admitted this was a tough decision due to his opposition to Netanyahu but said, “The most important thing is to bring the hostages home.”
The two parties in Netanyahu’s coalition strongly against the ceasefire deal hold 13 seats in the Israeli parliament. In contrast, Lapid’s party has 24 seats. This means that Netanyahu could maintain his position with Lapid’s support even if some coalition partners quit.
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