Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Finance Minister Yair Lapid Monday night in what was initially described as a last-ditch effort to salvage his coalition. However, a list of stiff demands presented by Netanyahu to Lapid during the meeting – as well as a harsh statement issued by him afterward – indicated that Israel may well be headed for early elections. Lapid’s brief statement after the meeting also left little room for hope that new elections can be averted.
During the meeting in his office, Netanyahu told Lapid that “the government cannot be maintained in a reality where he [Lapid] and his party incessantly attack the government in which they themselves are members,” the Primes Minister’s Office said in a statement.
During the meeting, Netanyahu presented five demands to Lapid, the statement said, including that he “stop undermining and lashing out at the government in which he is a member,” specifically when it came to construction plans in Jerusalem and Israel’s relations with the United States, regarding which Lapid has voiced public criticism.
Read the full article at Times of Israel.
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