Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu excoriated Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett Sunday, minutes after Bennett announced plans to form a national unity government with Yesh Atid.

Speaking at a press conference Sunday night, Netanyahu accused Bennett of deceiving his voters and pushed back on claims the Likud was spreading lies regarding the prospects for the formation of a right-wing government.

“I heard Bennett, and unfortunately, he is once again deceiving the public,” said Netanyahu.

“The same lies about ‘hate’ and ‘division’ – from the person who is backing hatred and division. No one would have voted for you if they knew what you were going to do. You are defrauding the public.”

“As soon as Lapid’s mandate to form a government ends, we can form a right-wing government. One possibility is to have Sa’ar serving as prime minister first, myself after him, and Bennett after me. Another possibility: we’re talking with MKs who could get us to 61 seats. They’re saying, ‘If Bennett joins you, we’ll join too.’”

“Bennett wants to be prime minister for two years, not one year, and he knows that if there are new elections, he’ll get wiped out. We doesn’t care about anyone. If he had 20 mandates [in the polls] he would go to new elections.”

Just before Netanyahu’s comments, Bennett announced that he will work to form a national unity government.

“I will work with all my might to form a national unity government with my friend, Yair Lapid,” Bennett told reporters.

“For the past two-and-a-half years the State of Israel has been in a tailspin. One election after another – for four election cycles we’ve watched our country hurt itself, weaken itself, and diminish its ability to function.”

Source: Arutz Sheva