Lapid: Labor concealing its leftist ideology
Yesh Atid chairman slams Netanyahu in interview at Ynet's studio, says 'instead of building in the periphery, the government found the money to build 3,000 housing units beyond the Green Line'
After a heavy week of politics, in which both Labor and Likud presented their Knesset lists and Tzipi Livni announced she is joining the race, Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid arrivd at the Ynet studio on Sunday for an interview with political commentator Attila Somfalvi.
"I am not part of a Center-Left bloc. We are center, as is Livni. Labor, on the other hand, is openly leftist and socialist, I can't understand why the party is trying to conceal its ideology," Lapid said.
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"It's okay to be a left-wing party, it's legitimate. It's less legitimate to try to hide who you really are. Labor is a historical party, yet no one knows what its agenda regarding education is. They don't want to say anything because it will force them to say something about a core curriculum for the haredim," he said.
Yair Lapid at Ynet's studio
Regarding the government, Lapid said that he would not commit to joining a Netanyahu government: "We will not sit in a government whose policies we do not agree with, but we will sit in a government that has polices we can influence. I am not negotiating a hypothetical coalition."
Poking America in the eye
He slammed the Netanyahu government's decision to build 3,000 settlement housing units, saying he was "very surprised to find out that the government has the money to build 3,000 homes. Building homes for former soldiers is nice, but instead of building in Ofakim or Kiryat Shmona, the government builds in a place which pokes America in the eye.
"The US voted against (the Palestinian statehood bid). Why do something you know will cause international damage."
According to Lapid, "There are no negotiations, we are stuck in a political stalemate. There are only unilateral steps by the Israeli government.
Minister Gilad Erdan of the Likud party said in response that the decision to build "has nothing to do with money. It is only a decision to release areas for construction in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. It does not cost the government money and it is certainly not at the expense of Ofakim, as Lapid's attempted incitement claims," he said.
Lapid will be launching his political campaign on Sunday under the slogan, "We are here to change," and is expected to present Yesh Atid's list for the 19th Knesset. All party lists must be finalized by Wednesday.
