Lapid To US Jewish Leaders: Don’t Give Up On ‘Israel’ Because of the Current Government

By Staff, Agencies

Zionist Opposition leader Yair Lapid urged American Jewish community leaders to maintain strong ties with the ‘Israeli’ entity despite differences with the current hardline government, in his first trip to the US since losing power.

The message represented a seemingly rare example of the opposition leader criticizing a sitting government while abroad.

Lapid met Wednesday in New York with Democratic congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Ritchie Torres.

In a meeting Monday with Jewish community leaders hosted by the Jewish Federations of North America, Lapid urged participants “not to give up on the relationship with ‘Israel’ just because of the current government,” according to his office.

Lapid told the community leaders that “while governments come and go, ‘Israel’ is here to stay, and the bond between ‘Israel’ and the United States is more important and strategic than ever.”

For their part, the Jewish community leaders and lawmakers expressed their anxiety over “the consequences of the regime coup on ‘Israel’-US relations and the relationship with American Jewry,” Lapid said, referring to the 'judicial' overhaul being advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.