Israeli opposition pushes for early elections, with Yair Lappid urging the early vote

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Yair Lapid is calling for early elections and the dissolution of the Israeli parliament as soon as next week.

[00:00:07]The opposition leader is accusing Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition of advancing what he calls anti-democratic legislation aimed at influencing the next election. Lapid telling parliament Israel should avoid another summer of corruption and hatred and go to the polls immediately instead of waiting until late October. Lapid recently announced of course that political alliance with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett under that new joint slate called Bayahad, which means together. Now, if the Knesset were dissolved next week, elections could potentially be held as early as August.

[00:00:50]So, for more reaction and insight, it's a pleasure to welcome to studio political analyst Gil Hoffman. Thank you so much for being here. Political maneuvering and mergers, that's the order of the day. No surprise, many, many changes are likely to happen in the next 6 months. Do you think elections will happen early? Well, Benita, you know, it's very nice that the opposition leader would like it to happen.

[00:01:14]One of the things that we still have from when we were part of the British Empire is that we took from the British Parliament that the opposition leader's office is the farthest away from the from the Parliament itself and he has the least influence when it comes to very big decision. Netanyahu will make the decision by himself and right now it looks like his interest in the is the election being as late as possible, not as early as possible if it happens at all. Why is that? Is that because he needs to wait for some kind of victory, some kind of announcement or landmark development that he can say, "Look, go to the polls. I'm your guy." Exactly. He needs Iran to be defeated in a way that's unquestionable to the people of Israel, to the people of the United States, and later on to the Arab and Muslim countries that he hopes to bring into the Abraham Accords.

[00:02:04]He intends to go into this election after expanding those accords so he can be remembered as a peacemaker, not a warmonger.

[00:02:11]So, let's take a deeper look at what could unfold in terms of the elections.

[00:02:16]The latest it can happen would be the end of October.

[00:02:20]How do you see it unfolding? Do you see a new government forming?

[00:02:23]Well, if so, right now we're listening to what the politicians say when nobody thinks that they're that people are listening to them if we want to know what they really think. And so, Gadi Eizenkot was caught saying that there needs to be a party that's significantly larger than Likud.

[00:02:38]And so, that that made it look like these last few days where they were hinting with Lieberman that that the two that those two parties could join, that doesn't look as likely anymore. It looks like maybe he will join together with the Bayit Yehudi party of which is together of Bennett and Lapid and try to present a significant challenge to Netanyahu. And then Netanyahu will bring his reinforcements and we'll have a really a Bennett versus Netanyahu two-man race.

[00:03:08]How well is Benjamin Netanyahu doing in the polls right now? If you are right as you are outlining it and in effect it ends up being a race against Naftali Bennett, how popular is he right now, Benjamin Netanyahu for starters? If you consider where he was after October 7th, it's a it's a miracle that he's lasted this long, that that the polls show him neck and neck with Bennett.

[00:03:30]And if a lot will depend on what happens over the next few months. Is the agenda of the election going to be something good for Netanyahu like making peace with Arab countries and his success militarily or is it going to be about his failures ahead of and and on October 7th?

[00:03:45]He did appear to be acknowledging some level of responsibility in recent interviews, a sense that everyone was culpable, everyone had some kind of blame. Not a direct quote, but it was intimated, so to speak. Do you think he's moving towards a change in strategy? That election could well be in October. October 7th will be top of mind for so many people across the country when they cast their vote.

[00:04:11]If he wanted to take any blame, he could form a commission of inquiry tomorrow.

[00:04:17]Uh we're going to see what the Knesset is going to do in in its very short amount of time that it still has.

[00:04:22]They're going to pass a bill against the attorney general. They're going to pass a bill against the the media.

[00:04:29]They could try to draft yeshiva students. They could try to form a commission of inquiry for October 7th.

[00:04:34]But it doesn't look like those are the top priorities. What are the top priorities, then? The top priority is shoring up Netanyahu's base. And if the base doesn't like the legal establishment, and the base doesn't like the media, then they will be targeted by the legislation before the Knesset disperses itself.

[00:04:50]Gil, people go to the polls, what will be top of mind for most people looking in? It would appear to be security. Many people very upset about draft exemptions, that could be top of mind as well. What are the issues front and center for Israeli voters when they do cast their vote, your sense? It's what they're most bitter about at the moment.

[00:05:11]They could be most bitter about the ultra-Orthodox not serving. They could be most bitter about their friends and family being murdered on October 7th. Or they could be most bitter at the world for putting pressure on Israel and feel that they need Netanyahu to keep that pressure away. And then they could be most bitter at the Arab countries that can still continue this war and feel that they need Netanyahu security-wise, which is why they've been voting for him for 30 years. Uh that's what we're going to find out on election day, whether it's October 27th or somewhat earlier.

[00:05:41]We will be waiting to see how it all unfolds. Given your extensive experience in the media world, finally, I'd like taking a comment made by Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel had not done well on the propaganda war. I don't think many would dispute that sentiment.

[00:05:56]He did blame social media disinformation. Why isn't Israel on top of this? Given the brain trust that exists in the country, why are they not able to deal with this war of narratives in the media spotlight?

[00:06:10]>> It was fascinating that he didn't blame himself for that. He has been a prime minister for a while. And he didn't have a spokesperson for the foreign media on October 7th. He blamed bots.

[00:06:20]And it's true that there is blame to be spread around. I happen to be writing a book about it right now.

[00:06:27]But there needs to be done more. He's finally appointed a head of the national public diplomacy directorate and the valley, former ambassador to Britain, who is very capable.

[00:06:38]There's a lot of work that needs to be done. There's definitely a lot of work that needs to be done. So appreciate your insights, Gil Hoffman. Appreciate you being here in studio on the rundown.

[00:06:48]A fascinating few months ahead. Waiting to see exactly when those elections will happen and how of course it all unfolds.