Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his alliance with far-right religious parties and support for legislation serving their interests, calling for a broad coalition to keep them out of power.
“There is no point in drawing closer to extremists, trying to reach agreements with them or appeasing them, because they do not appreciate goodwill,” Lapid wrote on the US social media platform X.
“Extremists see only one thing: more power,” he said, warning that they would exploit any opportunity and that those who allowed them near power would become their first victims.
Lapid accused extremists of using democratic rules to eliminate democracy and said they must be confronted directly.
“If laws against you are needed, they will be enacted, and if we have to exclude you, we will exclude you without hesitation,” he said.
He called for a “broad and determined alliance against extremists” that would refuse to make any concessions to them.
Referring to Netanyahu’s alliance with far-right religious parties, Lapid said the prime minister had believed he could control National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power party.
“But what happened? Who ultimately controlled whom? What laws did they enact, and what policies did they implement? Not because they are geniuses, but because they are extremists,” he added.
“Someone must close the door in their faces and tell them clearly and firmly: There is no place for these views here,” Lapid said. “We are the ones who will stand up to them.”
His remarks came a day after the Israeli Knesset voted to dissolve itself, paving the way for general elections scheduled for Oct. 27.
Netanyahu is seeking to remain in power, while opposition parties, despite their political differences, share the goal of removing him and his allies from office.
Days before its dissolution, the Knesset gave final approval to the Basic Law on Torah Study, granting students at Jewish religious seminaries, known as yeshivas, a special legal status.
The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported the law could strengthen the position of ultra-Orthodox Jews before the Supreme Court and pave the way for future legislation exempting them from military service.
According to the newspaper, Netanyahu and ultra-Orthodox parties agreed that the governing coalition would support legislation serving their interests, including the Torah study law and a measure freezing the arrest of draft evaders.
In return, the ultra-Orthodox parties would back bills aimed at weakening the media and curtailing the powers of the government’s attorney general, it added.
Haredim make up about 13% of Israel’s population, which exceeds 10 million. They reject military service on the grounds of full-time Torah study, saying integration into secular society threatens their religious identity.
For decades, Haredi men avoided conscription at age 18 through repeated deferments for religious study until reaching the exemption age, currently 26.
But in 2024, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Haredim must be drafted into the military and ordered the suspension of state funding for religious institutions whose students refuse enlistment.
