Israel’s Netanyahu ‘unfit’ to run government, says opposition leader

JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unfit to run the government, opposition leader Yair Lapid said Monday.

“We have two choices. A bad, dangerous, decaying and toxic government, or elections that will lead to a good government, that will restore security to the people of Israel,” Lapid said in a statement.

On Saturday, Netanyahu dismissed opposition calls for holding fresh elections, saying the polls would be the “dream” of Palestinian group Hamas.

But the Israeli opposition leader rejected Netanyahu’s argument.

“Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that elections now are the dream of our enemies. It’s the opposite, sir, the opposite. The dream of our enemies is your government of disasters, and the dream of our enemies is that you will continue to serve as its head,” Lapid said.

“There is nothing that scares [Hamas leaders] Sinwar and Haniyeh more than the fact that there will be an efficient, secure Israeli government with backing from the world, and a functioning economy,” he added.

Netanyahu is facing growing calls for holding new elections amid criticism of his government's policy on the Gaza Strip, where at least 30,534 people have been killed and 71,920 others injured in an Israeli offensive since Oct. 7 following a Hamas attack.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

In late 2023, South Africa filed a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Israel of failing to uphold its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar