Report: Lapid looking to block Netanyahu from running for PM

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) is planning to push a series of laws aimed at preventing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from being elected as premier for another term if Israel goes to new elections, according to a report by Kan Wednesday morning.

The bills reportedly being drawn up by Yesh Atid would bar any candidate under indictment from being nominated to form a new government or to serve as president.

If passed, the laws would effectively prevent Netanyahu from forming a new government after the next election, as his trial is expected to last for as long as two to three years before a verdict is handed down.

According to the report, Lapid, who currently holds the mandate to form a new government, is quietly drawing up the bills with the intention of passing them as soon as the current military operation in Gaza is completed, and the Arab riots across Israel come to an end.

The report comes as New Hope party chairman Gideon Sa’ar, a long-time rival of Netanyahu who bolted from the Likud last year, vowing not to sit with Netanyahu in a government, appeared to have reversed his position vis-à-vis forming a government with the Likud.

Sa’ar said in closed-door talks that he was considering forming a rotation government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Sa’ar serving as prime minister first.

Lapid’s push to bar Netanyahu from running for premier in the next Knesset has fuelled speculation the move could be intended to strengthen Sa’ar’s position in coalition talks with Netanyahu, forcing the Likud to yield to the New Hope’s demands in order to form a government in the current Knesset and avoid new elections.