Israeli centrist leader challenges Netanyahu on his own turf
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid’s combined media attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is intended to present him as a major player in the diplomatic and security arena.
Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid decided April 30 to withdraw the "no confidence" motion he had filed against the government, even though it was intended to be his opposition opening salvo in the Knesset’s summer session. He recognized that the Knesset was overwhelmed by a sense of emergency, stemming from the attack on Iranian facilities in Syria the night before. With the Cabinet holding an urgent meeting and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu absent from the opening session, the predominant feeling in the Knesset was that Israel was on the brink of war.
So Lapid — together with the Zionist Camp — acted in a stately manner and withdrew their "no confidence" motions. Then, just a few hours later, they watched Netanyahu seize the agenda in Israel and internationally. Netanyahu gave what can best be described as a prime-time TV performance to present Iran’s nuclear archive to the world, after it had been obtained by the Mossad in a James Bond-like operation.
The presentation concluded one of the most difficult days the opposition has faced in a very long time. Opposition leaders planning to wage a battle against the prime minister, who is entangled in all sorts of criminal investigations, but instead found themselves praising what can only be described as a remarkable intelligence coup.
By the next day, however, it looked as if Lapid had already recovered. This started with his party’s latest acquisition, Ram Ben-Barak, former deputy head of the Mossad, giving interviews accusing Netanyahu of acting irresponsibly. It was a very sophisticated move on Lapid’s part. While he is no authority on security matters, Ben-Barak was a candidate to head the Mossad. In other words, he is drawn from the very flesh and blood of that fabled intelligence agency. And yet, Ben-Barak was expressing his dismay at what the prime minister just did. He told the press that he was convinced that most of the Mossad opposed disclosing the operation to the public and then went on to wonder: “Why would we give Iran the slightest hint to help them investigate how the documents were stolen, and then start arresting people?”
