“I said something at that meeting that later on became a cliché – I said, “Prime Minister, this is the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. 

“What we need to do, is form a unity government,” he said. “You have to get rid of the extremists in your government, and we can create a unity of government because we have opposite us, a challenge that is unparalleled to anything you, or I, have ever seen.”

Lapid said Netanyahu was “reluctant” to pursue this route. 

“Until this day, I’m sorry about this. I thought it was the right thing to do, and I still think it was the right thing to do,” he added. 

Netanyahu has spent 15 years as Israel’s prime minister, first serving from March 2009 to June 2021, before retaking the top job in December 2022. 

Lapid described his lengthy tenure as “admirable” and emblematic of his “resilience.”

“But in other ways, I can see now, to say politely, the benefits of the two-term limits that you have in the United States,” he added.

Families of hostages protest, demanding the release from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, at the plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025.  (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The opposition leader said he thinks Israelis are ready for a “unity government” in response to Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition, noting that he thinks the upcoming elections will be “interesting.”

“It’s going to cross political lines, and it’s going to be based on hope,” he added in reference to the bloc he is building. “I know it sounds like big words, but I’m telling you, it is what we need right now. 

“It’s been the hardest two years of everybody’s lifetime. And the first time in a long, long time, the fragility of the Israeli society was tangible to us. And we need to rebuild,” Lapid added. 

Netanyahu’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions by the time this report was published.