Opposition leader Yair Lapid declared Sunday night that another electoral victory for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition would spell “the end of Zionism.”

Speaking before activists at a Yesh Atid party gathering in Tel Aviv, Lapid said the coming election as Israel’s decisive moment. “If we don’t save the country now, in two years there will be nothing left to save. The window of opportunity will close,” he said.

Lapid described Israelis as facing two starkly opposed futures: “a successful, sophisticated, world-renowned first-world country, with liberal values and love for Jewish tradition — or a violent and backward third-world country, which turns Judaism into racism and wants to eliminate our democracy.”

The opposition leader called for sweeping reforms, including passing a constitution, strengthening the education system, and safeguarding the independence of the police and courts. He also sought to distinguish his leadership from rivals, noting that while figures from Gadi Eisenkot to Naftali Bennett were positioning themselves for top posts, “somebody also needs to know how to take all these forces and build a government from them.”

With elections mandated by October 2026, Lapid insisted only Yesh Atid has the strength and organizational capacity to lead the opposition to victory. “If you really want us to win the elections and form a government, Yesh Atid must be big, must be strong, must lead the camp,” he told supporters.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)