The Knesset, Israel’s unicameral parliament, approved the formation of an “emergency government” and a “war cabinet” on Thursday night by 66 votes to 4 in an extraordinary session broadcast live, AFP reported.

The emergency government announced a day ago by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz is also set to include five new ministers from Gantz’s party.

Instead, opposition leader Yair Lapid announced on Thursday that he refuses to be part of this emergency government.

This cabinet is supposed to carry out its activities during Israel’s war with Hamas.

The opposition leader accuses the government of “unforgivable failure”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Thursday accused the Netanyahu government of an “unforgivable failure” because it failed to prevent an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel, AFP reported.

“Saturday’s failure is unforgivable,” Lapid said in a televised address, announcing that he would not join the Netanyahu-Gantz emergency government.

Explaining that he was in favor of a “government of national unity,” he said he did not want to join that government with “extremists,” citing Itamar Ben Gvir, the public security minister and leader of the far-right Jewish Force.

Yair Lapid also spoke of Netanyahu’s “responsibility”, believing that “he who causes failure cannot fix it”.

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