(ANSA) - TEL AVIV, 02 JUL - It is time for extremism in Israel "to stop".
This is the appeal of the interim prime minister YairLapid in his first public speech since he took over from Naftali Bennett.
In the country - he added - "extremism does not come to politics from the streets but is the opposite. It flows like lava from politics to the streets".
"The political sphere - he added referring to the climate of the last few years - has become more and more extreme, violent and vicious, and is drawing Israeli society with it. We must say this. This is our challenge".
Israel, he continued, "extends its hand to all the peoples of the Middle East, Palestinians included, and says: it is time to recognize that we will never leave here, we learn to live together".
"We believe that as long as Israel's security needs are met, Israel - she added - will be a country seeking peace".
(HANDLE).