Opposition leader Yair Lapid pledged on Thursday evening, November 12, that a new government will be formed, while acknowledging that his camp will have to make painful compromises and will probably not deliver on all of its promises in the next six months.
Speaking at Yesh Atid's fourth party convention, Lapid said: "A government will be formed. It may take time. It may be that until it happens we will all go through a roller coaster of anxieties and fears, but a good, principled government worthy of the people of Israel will be formed. It would be madness if it is not formed, because it would be unforgivable national irresponsibility if it is not formed."
He was candid about the trade-offs involved. "The basic truth known to everyone who deals with running countries is this: there are no perfect governments. There are no perfect coalition agreements. There is nothing in life that is perfect," Lapid said. "So yes, we will make compromises. It is impossible to form a government without painful compromises. We will probably not succeed in implementing all of our goals and fulfilling all of our promises in the next six months, but a government will be formed."
Lapid credited the approach to his longtime rival. "This is a lesson I learned from Benjamin Netanyahu: first you form a government. Afterward you go about fixing, improving and expanding it. That is what we will do now," he said. "All of us need to stay focused on the goal and keep strong nerves. The good news is that we are focused on the goal and we have strong nerves, and the ties within the bloc are much better than everyone thinks."
