Prime Minister Yair Lapid invited opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu to an update meeting on state affairs. Apparently this is a routine and innocent invitation, in accordance with a law that requires the prime minister to hold a periodic update meeting with the opposition chairman; Shatman Lapid told Netanyahu, who announced in advance that he did not intend to attend these meetings.
Netanyahu does not want to be seen as being briefed by Lapid - especially during an election campaign.
He fears that this will create a psychological effect in the public that will place Lapid at a higher level than him, while the Likud campaign seeks to emphasize Lapid's inexperience and his apparent lack of competence and suitability for the position.
In light of this, Netanyahu announced in advance, in a telephone conversation with Lapid, that he proposed that the security updates - which constitute the main part of the briefing - be delivered to him by the military secretary, General Avi Gil, without the presence of the prime minister.
According to Netanyahu, this will prevent the briefings from becoming a political event that will be used for the needs of the election campaign.
Lapid, as can be learned from the invitation he sent to Netanyahu, refused this arrangement and he wants to hold the update meetings in their normal format, which is stipulated by law.
Presumably, when he published the public invitation to Netanyahu, he knew that the latter would refuse it, and he did so in order to present him as someone who was driven by petty personal considerations and did not act in a stately manner.
Were we wrong?
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