In message to US before Trump-Netanyahu meeting, Lapid says opposition will give 'safety net' for Israeli gov't to complete hostage deal

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, a vocal Netanyahu critic, announced on Monday that he would back the Netanyahu government in completing the hostage deal with the terrorist militia Hamas. 

“Tomorrow, a meeting will be held in Washington between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu. It is important to clarify before this meeting: Netanyahu has a safety net from the opposition for the entire hostage deal, in all its stages,” Lapid said during a visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of dozens of Israeli southern border communities that were attacked by Hamas operatives on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Lapid issued his announcement in English, apparently wanting his message to be clearly heard by the new U.S. administration.

Netanyahu and Trump are expected to discuss the second stage of the hostage deal with Hamas as well as how to counter the Iranian nuclear threat. 

“There is no political obstacle that prevents Netanyahu from reaching the second phase of the deal. It has a huge majority [of support] among the people, it has a huge majority here in the Knesset and in the political system in Israel,” Lapid continued, adding that “the hostage deal will not bring down the government.”

Lapid emphasized that “the American administration needs to know that there is no risk to the government because of the deal.” 

The opposition leader was referring to Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners who oppose the release of convicted terrorists from Israeli jails and have demanded that Israel resume its military operations against Hamas in Gaza.

Former National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party already left the Netanyahu coalition government with Ben Gvir accusing the Israeli government of “total surrender” to Hamas.

“The opening of the Netzarim Corridor this morning and the entry of tens of thousands of Gazans into the northern Gaza Strip are images of Hamas' victory and another humiliating part of the reckless deal,” Ben Gvir wrote at the end of last month in a post on 𝕏.

“This is not what ‘complete victory’ looks like – this is what complete surrender looks like. The heroic IDF soldiers did not fight and give their lives in the Strip to make these images possible. We must return to war – and destroy!” he added.

In addition, hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has also threatened to leave the government, if the IDF does not return immediately to fighting the war in Gaza to defeat and fully destroy the terrorist organizations in the Strip.   

Opposition leader Lapid also praised Trump’s commitment to securing the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza. 

“Without President Trump and his commitment to the issue, it is very doubtful whether we would have seen the men and women who returned home in the last two weeks alive,” Lapid assessed.

“The [US] president promised that he would make sure that the deal continues until the last of the hostages returns home, those who are dead and those who are alive, and we know that we can trust his word,” he added.