Leading 1st cabinet meeting, Lapid pledges to govern as if elections weren’t looming

Yair Lapid, leading his first cabinet meeting as prime minister on Sunday, told ministers that he expected them to prioritize stability in the coming months, despite feeling the pull of campaigning as the country hurtles toward its fifth election in under four years.

“Our goal – that of this entire [cabinet] table – in the coming months will be to govern as if elections were not being held. The citizens of Israel are entitled to a continuously functioning government. This is what I expect from my fellow ministers,” he said.

Lapid’s remarks came just three days into his prime ministerial tenure, after trading seats with now-Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennet as part of a power-sharing agreement that was triggered when Israel’s 24th Knesset voted to disband itself on Thursday morning, forcing fresh elections.

The prime minister, who is leading a caretaker government until a new one is sworn in after the November 1 election, listed hospital budget holdups, an ongoing educational system workforce dispute, and security threats among the issues that will have to be addressed during his tenure.

“The education crisis cannot wait. Funding for hospitals cannot be postponed. The Iranians, Hamas and Hezbollah will not wait. We need to counter them persistently in every arena, and this is exactly what we are doing,” Lapid said. READ MORE