Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid on Thursday vowed his party will be "an iron wall" against another government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying such a scenario would be "catastrophic."
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Yesh Atid, he stated, "Will not agree for our children to become second-class citizens. [United Torah Judaism MK Yakov] Litzman, [Shas head Aryeh] Deri, [Religious Zionist Party chief Bezalel] Smotrich, and [far-Right Otzma Yehudit party head Itamar] Ben Gvir will not set the values of this country for our children.
"That is why we must win [next] Tuesday. Only a strong Yesh Atid will prevent them from taking over the country. They cannot be allowed to form a government that purports racism and backward-thinking."
Speaking at the party's last election rally on Wednesday, Lapid asserted, "We can win this election. We are fighting for the 61st seat – that's what the last two years were all about," he said, referring to the number of mandates a premiership hopeful must secure to form a coalition.
"If we work hard and correctly, if we convince undecided [voters], we can win these elections."
He further warned that a government that includes only the religious parties, namely Shas, United Torah Judaism, Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit, will see them extort the Likud every step of the way.
"This kind of government … will not be a Zionist government and Likud will be ruled by them [the Haredi parties]. Netanyahu is the captive of Haredi lobbyists and of the most radical elements in Israeli society. … They are not undecided. They know what they want – a government where they get immunity and eliminate democracy," he stated.
Meanwhile, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett told Israel Hayom on Wednesday that "the only solution to the political chaos plaguing Israel is a party that is not subjugated to the idea of 'Bibi – yes or no.'"
He also did not dismiss the idea of joining forces with New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar following the elections, so as to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bennett stressed that for him, the most important issue is to form a government that would produce political stability and extract Israel from "the chronic crisis of endless election campaigns."
He confirmed that in order to achieve this goal, a non-right-wing party would need to be part of the coalition, but said that such a government would still be a national right-wing party.
Bennett further reiterated that he will not endorse Lapid for the position of prime minister following the elections, "as he is clearly a left-wing leader. I plan to form a right-wing government."
Sa'ar, for his part, called on Bennett to join him after the elections to facilitate replacing Netanyahu.
New Hope's leader reiterated that he "will never join a Netanyahu-led government," adding that preventing a fifth election requires removing Netanyahu as prime minister, which requires cooperation on the part of all parties.
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