Battle for the Left

For three elections, Gantz led the Blue and White alliance and the left-wing bloc, while Lapid played the part of the loyal soldier. But this time, Private Lapid is taking the former chief of staff and decorated general to school.

Yair Lapid started the campaign from the enviable position of incumbent prime minister. The prevailing wisdom in the political world held that Lapid would avoid rocking the boat before the election, to accustom voters to hearing the words “Prime Minister Yair Lapid” without instinctively face-palming in alarm.

But last week, Lapid deviated from the levelheaded policy of his two predecessors with his decision to openly back Ukraine over Russia, rousing the Russian bear to an immediate response: the closing of the Jewish Agency’s offices in Russia.

Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu was quick to condemn Lapid’s hubris and impulsiveness, but the prime minister, in damage control mode on the diplomatic front, has no regrets politically.