BICOM

Labour Party leader Shelly Yachimovich said yesterday that her party would not join the next government if it is formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud-Beitenu list. Recent polling suggests that Labour is likely to be the second largest party in the next Knesset.

Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Yachimovich said, “We will either form the next government or sit in the opposition – these are the two options.” Yachimovich had previously refused to definitively outline her party’s post-election plans, but yesterday warned “this isn’t the Likud that we all know” and said “there radicalisation is evident in every aspect,” warning that “the prime minister…will bring a social hell and economic chaos.”

However, Yachimovich’s pledge was criticised by Yair Lapid, leader of centre-left party Yesh Atid. Lapid accused Yachimovich of having “hammered the final nail into the secular-Zionist coalition’s coffin,” saying that “she has erased any chance of forming a non-messianic government.” He said that his party would not be “a fig leaf” for such a coalition, hinting that Yesh Atid would not agree to be the only non right-wing or non religious party in government.

In a statement, the Hatnuah party led by Tzipi Livni also criticised Yachimovich’s position saying she had “given up and condemned herself to the opposition; from there she will not achieve anything.” Livni herself said “we should fight together, forming a front against the radical front.” Addressing whether she would join a Netanyahu-led government herself, Livni said “it is on the basis of my principles that I will decide on the day after the election what to do.”