This government shutdown isn’t President Donald Trump’s first rodeo navigating a lapse in government funding — but this time, the focus is less on the White House as all eyes are locked on Congress and its budget impasse. 

While the 35-day shutdown during Trump’s first term centered around the president’s priorities to fund a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, the current shutdown doesn’t pit the White House against the legislative branch. 

Rather, there is a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over certain healthcare provisions — alleviating pressure on the White House and giving Trump time to post videos showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a sombrero in an AI-generated clip underscoring Republicans’ claims that Democrats want to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants. 

This paves the way for Trump to remain in the wings during the partial shutdown, and let Democrats take the fall for the consequences, according to libertarian political columnist Kristin Tate.

‘By staying relatively quiet right now, President Trump is allowing Democrats to ‘own’ the shutdown,’ Tate said in a Wednesday email to Fox News Digital. ‘The president realizes that if he says anything confrontational right now, the narrative will center around his remarks rather than the Democrats’ refusal to support a reasonable spending bill.’ 

‘By maintaining a low profile, Trump is allowing the public to see how the Democrats are acting,’ Tate said. ‘The Democrats will ultimately bear most of the political consequences of the shutdown.’

The government entered a partial shutdown Wednesday, amid a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a short-term funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21. The House had previously passed the temporary spending bill in September. 

Three Senate Democrats joined Republicans to vote for the stopgap funding bill Tuesday, but the measure fell short of the required 60 votes needed for passage. 

Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans have claimed Democrats are seeking to provide health care for illegal immigrants, keeping the government from operating. They cite a provision that would repeal part of Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill — the so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ — which scaled back Medicaid eligibility for noncitizens. 

But Democrats have said Republicans’ claims are false, and instead, have said they want to permanently extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to lapse at the end of 2025. 

‘They say that undocumented people are going to get these credits,’ Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. ‘That is absolutely false. That is one of the big lies that they tell.’

The shutdown differs from the one during Trump’s first term, where Trump and Democrats in Congress sparred about nearly $6 billion in funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall in the spending bill for weeks. 

Ultimately, Trump backed off amid mounting pressure to reopen the government so federal employees could resume being paid after weeks of stalled payroll, and signed off on legislation to temporarily reopen the government without the border wall funding. 

Matt Wolking, who previously served as the deputy communications director for Trump’s 2020 campaign, said that the main difference between this shutdown in comparison to the previous one is that Democrats are the one requesting a policy change — not the White House. 

‘Trump is as engaged as ever — and using humor effectively, of course — and the biggest difference between now and then is that now it’s Democrats who are demanding a specific policy change,’ Wolking said in a Wednesday email to Fox News Digital. ‘They voted against funding the government because they want taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants, and that’s why Trump and Republicans are well positioned to win the shutdown messaging battle this time.’ 

Additionally, Republican strategist Matt Gorman said that Democrats have put themselves in a tough position since they were the ones that voted against the continuing resolution. 

‘Times have shown over and over through the years that the public supports funding the government. They penalize the party that attaches extra policy priorities to whatever bill does that,’ Gorman, who previously served as the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a Wednesday email to Fox News Digital. ‘You’re already seeing moderate Democrats splinter off. As this goes on, I expect that to continue.’

Meanwhile, Trump is taking advantage of the shutdown to advance his priorities to whittle down the federal government in an unprecedented move. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget ordered agencies in Septemberto draw up plans for a reduction-in-force in the event of a lapse in appropriations. 

While federal employees typically are furloughed during government shutdowns, the Trump administration’s plans would permanently scale back the size of the federal workforce if a government shutdown occurs.

‘Republicans must use this opportunity of Democrat forced closure to clear out dead wood, waste, and fraud,’ Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday. ‘Billions of Dollars can be saved. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ 

Vice President JD Vance has adopted a proactive role carrying the administration’s position, and told reporters Tuesday he predicted the shutdown wouldn’t last long. Specifically, he said that evidence suggests moderate Democrats are ‘cracking a little’ because they understand the ‘fundamental illogic’ of the shutdown. 

Still, he said that layoffs were forthcoming. Trump said Sunday that layoffs were ‘taking place right now’ as thousands of workers’ jobs remain in jeopardy. 

‘We’re going to have to make things work,’ Vance said. ‘And that means that we’re going to have to triage some certain things, that means certain people are going to have to get laid off. And we’re going to try to make sure that the American people suffer as little as possible from the shutdown.’

The White House said in a statement to Fox News Digital that every shutdown comes with consequences.

‘The Democrats can reopen the government at any time,’ White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Monday. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed the top House Democrat’s demand for a primetime debate on the government shutdown.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote to Johnson on Monday morning challenging him to a debate on the House floor ‘any day this week,’ to be broadcast live ‘to the American people.’

Johnson suggested he would not entertain that, however, calling the move a ‘publicity stunt’ to reporters that same morning.

‘When the poll says that about 13% of the people approve of your messaging, then you make desperate pleas for attention, and that’s what Hakeem Jeffries has done,’ Johnson said.

‘We debated all this on the House floor. As you know, before we passed our bill, he spoke for seven or eight minutes. He had all of his colleagues lined up. They gave it their best shot, and they argued, and they stomped their feet and screamed at us and all that. And still we passed the bill in bipartisan fashion and sent it over to the Senate.’

The House speaker was referring to a short-term federal funding bill aimed at keeping the government running through Nov. 21, in order to give congressional negotiators more time to pass fiscal year (FY) 2026 spending priorities.

That bill passed the House largely along party lines — with two Republicans opposed and one Democrat in support — but has stalled in the Senate.

‘The House has done its job. I’m not going to let Hakeem try to pretend for theatrics. I mean, this is a [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.] decision. The ball is in the Senate’s court now,’ Johnson said.

‘We don’t need to waste time on that nonsense. Those debates have been had. I mean, Hakeem is a friend and a colleague. I respect him, but we all know what he’s trying to do there.’

The government is in its sixth day of the current shutdown, with Senate Democrats having rejected the GOP-led funding plan four times.

Democrats in the House and Senate, infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks, have been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those enhancements would expire by the end of 2025 without congressional action.

‘Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position. The country needs immediate, bipartisan negotiations between the White House and congressional leadership in order to reach an enlightened spending agreement that reopens the government, improves the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis,’ Jeffries wrote to Johnson on Monday.

‘Unfortunately, Donald Trump and your party decided to shut down the government, because the GOP refuses to provide healthcare to everyday Americans. Further, you have kept House Republicans on vacation instead of working with Democrats to reopen the government.’

The government shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday, and Senate Democrats are so firmly planted in their position that unless there is a deal on expiring Obamacare tax credits, they will not reopen the government. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus have largely remained unflinching in their demand that Republicans and President Donald Trump agree to a deal on the tax credits, which are set to expire by the end of the year.

It’s one of several demands they made in their counter-proposal to the GOP’s continuing resolution (CR), and appears to be the one that they believe to be the most attainable. Their other demands, repealing the healthcare section of the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and putting guardrails on the rescissions, are a nonstarter for Republicans and the White House.

Still, no party that has introduced unrelated demands into a government shutdown fight has walked away with a victory. The last government shutdown in early 2019 saw Trump demand that Democrats provide funding for his border wall, and he walked away empty-handed.

Throughout last week, Senate Democrats maintained a posture that they wanted Republicans to come to the negotiating table on the subsidies, which are set to sunset at the end of this year. Conversations among members are ongoing, which both Schumer and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have encouraged.

‘We want Democrats to talk with Republicans,’ Schumer said. ‘And so it’s a good thing.’

But, he countered that Republicans hadn’t offered ‘anything really new — just the same old stuff.’

‘And so, nothing new on [Obamacare], nothing on rescissions,’ he said. ‘And so, look, Democrats want to go back and negotiate again, but they got to negotiate with something, get something in return.’

Democrats’ initial push was to make the subsidies — created during the COVID-19 pandemic to ease the cost of healthcare premiums available through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — permanent. The subsidies were later enhanced through the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 when Democrats last had a trifecta in Washington. That change removed the income cap on the subsidies. 

Republicans have said that they are interested in working out something on the tax credits, but that there should be reforms to the program.

‘The Obamacare enhanced, or COVID subsidies, are inflationary, and rates have been going up because that program is fundamentally flawed in ways designed,’ Thune said. ‘That doesn’t mean it can’t be reformed and fixed. It can, but we can’t get to that conversation until we get the government back open.’

Lawmakers are set to again vote on Republicans’ CR, and it is again expected to fail for a fifth time Monday, given that no deal was struck over the weekend. Both sides agree that a deal won’t come from the top level, but will have to be borne from negotiations among rank-and-file members.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has been directly involved in the member-level negotiations and said that Republicans did want to tackle the Obamacare issue. But, Democrats have to agree to reopen the government first.

‘It would be nice if Sen. Schumer could say his shutdown is complete, but we suspect that it will take members of his conference to make that decision on his behalf,’ Rounds said. 

A weekend away from Washington did little to soften Senate Democrats’ resolve as they again blocked Republicans’ effort to reopen the government, ensuring the shutdown will last at least a week.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most of his caucus are adamant that unless a deal is struck on expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, commonly known as ObamaCare subsidies, they will not provide the votes needed to fund the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., needs at least eight Democrats to cross the aisle and support the GOP’s bill, which would reopen the government until Nov. 21.

However, only Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, have broken with their caucus to end the shutdown. Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., remains the lone Republican to buck his party.

Senate Democrats have remained steadfast in their demand that a deal must be reached to extend expiring ObamaCare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. They argue that unless Congress acts, Americans who rely on the tax credits will see their healthcare premiums skyrocket.

Both Senate leaders are encouraging talks among rank-and-file members to find a solution, but neither side can agree on when exactly the subsidies should be dealt with.

When asked what the appetite for tackling the expiring subsidies was within the Senate GOP, Thune said it was ‘a mixed bag.’ 

‘But like I said, you know, there may be a path forward,’ he said. ‘I think a lot of it would come down to what the White House lands on that, but certainly not without reforms. And we all know the program is broken, it needs to be fixed, so that would be certainly a starting place.’

Schumer wants an additional bulwark added to a deal: President Donald Trump has to sign off on it, given that there may be resistance among House Republicans to extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.

‘Look, the bottom line on that is we need the president to be involved. [House Speaker Mike] Johnson and a whole lot of his caucus don’t like the ACA, don’t want to do the extensions,’ he said. ‘A lot of Republican senators in the Senate do, but they’re not enough. Good is not enough.’

‘You need Johnson and you need Trump to get it done,’ he continued. ‘So that’s the bottom line.’

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that ‘we’re talking to the Democrats.’ When asked if he would work to make a deal with them on ObamaCare subsidies to reopen the government, he said ‘Yeah.’ 

‘I’d like to see a deal made for great healthcare,’ Trump said. Ii want to see great healthcare, I’m a republican but I want to see healthcare much more so than the Democrats.’ 

Schumer fired back in a statement that Trump’s ‘claim isn’t true — but if he’s finally ready to work with Democrats, we’ll be at the table.’

And Fetterman, who has routinely voted against shutting the government down regardless of which party controlled the Senate, recognized that without Trump’s greenlight, a deal would go nowhere.

He gave the example of a bipartisan border deal negotiated between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate in 2023 that was sidelined under orders from Trump.

‘It got tanked. Trump tanked that, and he wasn’t the president, and he didn’t have to sign that thing,’ Fetterman said. ‘So what I’m saying, where’s the leverage? Because ultimately, doesn’t he have to sign off on any of it anyway?’

A Senate Republican argued that Senate Democrats are demanding tens of millions of dollars in foreign aid for LGBT projects, pastry cooking classes, electric buses and more in exchange for reopening the government.

Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have remained steadfast in their position that unless a deal is struck to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits, they will not provide the votes needed to reopen the government.

But Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., charged on the Senate floor on Friday that his colleagues’ demands go beyond their healthcare push, and is being driven by the ‘socialist wing’ of the Democratic Party, and more specifically, by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

‘I don’t think Senator Schumer was the person in charge, because Senator Schumer is not the leader of the Socialist wing of his party, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is,’ Kennedy said. ‘She’s running the show.’

When reached for comment, Ocasio-Cortez’s office pointed Fox News Digital to an interview she did with NBC News on Republicans’ claims that she was driving Democrats’ position. 

Ocasio-Cortez called the claims that she was running the show ‘ridiculous,’ and charged that Republicans were the ones that had shut down the government. 

‘It is so important to understand that these people are all talk, they are all talk, they are negotiating with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic leadership, and Democrats are united to that end,’ she said. 

He argued that congressional Democrats, driven by the far-left, wanted to unlock funding that Republicans and the White House had canceled earlier this year in the $9 billion rescissions package. 

The lawmaker listed out nearly $20 million in foreign aid funding that he alleged Democrats had their eyes on, including, $4.2 million for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people in the Western Balkans and Uganda, $3.6 million for pastry cooking classes and dance focus groups for male prostitutes in Haiti, $6 million dollars for media organizations for the Palestinians and $3 million for circumcisions and vasectomies in Zambia.

He also accused congressional Democrats of seeking hundreds of thousands for electric buses in Rwanda, transgender people in Nepal, a pride parade in Lesotho and for social media and mentorship in Serbia.

‘I could spend the rest of the afternoon here,’ Kennedy said. ‘We took all that out.’

Kennedy’s office did not provide details to Fox News Digital when asked specifically where the funding he referred to could be found. 

And Democrats’ goal in their counter-proposal to Republicans’ continuing resolution (CR) did not include a repeal of the rescissions’ package, which saw billions in foreign aid canceled earlier this year. 

Their plan demanded a permanent extension to the expiring healthcare premium subsidies, nearly $200 million for beefed up security for lawmakers, a repeal of the healthcare title in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’ a clawback of canceled funding for NPR and PBS, and stiffer guardrails on President Donald Trump’s rescission powers.

However, their CR does not include a provision that would undo the broader rescissions package passed earlier this year that canceled billions in foreign aid funding.

And Senate Democrats have remained bullish in their demand that Senate Republicans must negotiate with them on a deal for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to earn their votes to reopen the government.

‘We have asked Republican leaders for months to sit down and talk to us, talk with us. They’ve refused and barreled us into a shutdown,’ Schumer said. ‘They thought they could bludgeon us and threaten us and scare us. It ain’t working, because my caucus and Democrats are adamant that we must protect the healthcare of the American people.’

Fox News reached out for comment from Schumer’s office but did not hear back immediately.

The Vatican’s top diplomat on Monday condemned both Hamas’ ‘inhuman and indefensible’ Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s ‘ongoing massacre’ in Gaza, warning that even legitimate self-defense cannot justify the destruction of a ‘largely defenseless population.’

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and one of Pope Leo XIV’s advisers, spoke in an interview marking the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel — a raid that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 people taken hostage.

Parolin said Israel’s military response has stretched far beyond the bounds of proportionality, turning Gaza’s crowded neighborhoods into ruins.

‘The war waged by the Israeli army to eliminate Hamas militants disregards the fact that it is targeting a largely defenseless population, already pushed to the brink, in an area where buildings and homes are reduced to rubble,’ he told Vatican media.

‘Those who are attacked have a right to defend themselves,’ he said, ‘but even legitimate defense must respect the principle of proportionality.’

Reuters reported that Hamas-run Gaza health authorities claim Israel’s campaign has resulted in over 67,000 deaths in Gaza, mostly civilians.

The remarks rank among the Church’s sharpest rebukes of the war. They also mark a shift toward a more forceful Vatican voice under Leo, who succeeded Pope Francis in May.

Parolin also faulted global powers for their paralysis.

‘It is… clear that the international community is, unfortunately, powerless and that the countries truly capable of exerting influence have so far failed to act to stop the ongoing massacre,’ he said.

‘I can only repeat the very clear words spoken by Pope Leo on July 20: ‘I renew my appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and to respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of the population.’’

Parolin went further, questioning the morality of arms sales to parties in the conflict.

‘It’s not enough to say that what is happening is unacceptable and then continue to allow it to happen,’ he said.

‘We must seriously ask ourselves about the legitimacy… of continuing to supply weapons that are being used against civilians.’

In July, Pope Leo XIV expressed sadness and called for a ceasefire after Gaza’s only Catholic Church was hit in an apparent Israeli strike, leaving at least two dead and several injured. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said ‘stray ammunition’ hit the church.

Parolin’s warning lands as European leaders face growing pressure to do more than issue statements of concern. His use of ‘massacre’ echoed humanitarian groups that say Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has collapsed.

At the same time, he reiterated the Church’s demand that Hamas free all remaining hostages.

‘Those attacks were inhuman and indefensible,’ he said, underscoring that neither side’s suffering diminishes the other’s.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Vatican on the matter.

Reuters contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Monday evening slammed Democratic lawmakers for shutting down the government amid one of ‘the most successful economies,’ calling on them to reopen the government tonight.

‘Democrats have SHUT DOWN the United States Government right in the midst of one of the most successful Economies, including a Record Stock Market, that our Country has ever had,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘This has sadly affected so many programs, services, and other elements of Society that Americans rely on — And it should not have happened.

‘I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open,’ he added. ‘In fact, they should open our Government tonight!’

Trump made the post after Senate Democrats, again, blocked Republican efforts to reopen the government, ensuring the shutdown will last at least a week.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and most Democrats say they won’t support funding the government unless Congress agrees to extend expiring ObamaCare subsidies.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., needs at least eight Democrats to back the GOP bill, which would reopen the government through Nov. 21. So far, only Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine, have broken ranks to end the shutdown, while Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., remains the only Republican holdout.

Democrats warn that without a deal to extend the subsidies expiring this year, millions could face soaring premiums. Both sides say they want an agreement but remain split over when to address the issue.

Schumer also wants assurance that Trump will sign any deal, pointing to expected resistance from House Republicans.

‘We need the president involved,’ Schumer said. ‘[House Speaker Mike] Johnson and a whole lot of his caucus don’t like the ACA, don’t want to do the extensions. A lot of Republican senators in the Senate do, but they’re not enough. Good is not enough. You need Johnson and you need Trump to get it done. So that’s the bottom line.’

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, ‘we’re talking to Democrats.’ When asked if he’d work with them on a deal to reopen the government, he said, ‘Yeah.’

‘I’d like to see a deal made for great healthcare,’ Trump said. ‘I want to see great healthcare. I’m a Republican, but I want to see healthcare much more so than the Democrats.’

Schumer fired back, saying Trump’s ‘claim isn’t true — but if he’s finally ready to work with Democrats, we’ll be at the table.’

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., tore into Special Counsel Jack Smith, accusing him of ‘spying on political opponents’ during the Jan. 6 probe and calling the alleged surveillance ‘an abuse of power beyond Watergate.’

The FBI, working under Smith’s direction, obtained call logs and metadata tied to nearly a dozen GOP senators, including Hawley, as part of its investigation into the Capitol riot, Fox News reported. The tracking involved call records and timestamps, not the content of the conversations.

Hawley told Fox News Digital on Monday that the newly released documents suggest that Biden’s administration was ‘spying on the president’s political opponents,’ which he called ‘a profound violation of the separation of powers.’

He said the activity fits what he views as part of a broader pattern of executive overreach under Biden, citing alleged surveillance of Catholic churches, parents at school board meetings and social media censorship.

‘The truth comes out. Biden’s Stasi who claimed to be saving ‘our sacred democracy’ in fact worked overtime to destroy it — all for power. They spied on Catholic churches, prosecuted pro-lifers, deployed the FBI against parents at school board meetings — and tried to tap the phones of their political enemies. Including mine,’ Hawley wrote on X.

‘This is an abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment,’ he continued. ‘We need a full investigation of all involved: who knew about it, who ordered it, and who approved it. Anyone and everyone who violated the law must be prosecuted. The way to save the country is to restore the rule of law.’

Hawley said he was targeted because he is a conservative Republican who vocally opposed Biden and ‘his lawlessness.’

‘It’s obviously totally partisan,’ the senator said, adding that he’s proud to have called out what he described as the abuse of power by the FBI. He also said the alleged conduct was ‘dangerous, very, very dangerous’ for the country.

Hawley said the scope of the alleged surveillance was even greater than Watergate.

‘This is worse than Watergate,’ he said, arguing that Biden ‘activated the entire government to go after anybody who dared to oppose him.’ He accused the administration of using agencies such as the FBI, DOJ and DHS to silence critics and monitor private citizens.

Hawley called for a full Justice Department investigation and said appointing a special counsel ‘who will devote their full attention to it’ would be appropriate.

‘We’ve got to have a total accountability, total transparency and a full accounting of everybody who was involved in this — everybody who knew about it, signed off on it, and had any part in it, and I just can’t imagine that this is legal… and anybody who committed legal violations needs to be prosecuted,’ he said.

Hawley has framed the controversy as a test of constitutional limits, saying the government must be held accountable when power is used to pursue political opponents instead of upholding the rule of law.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Two years since the horrific events of Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and killed 1,200 men, women and children, before they took 251 others into the Gaza Strip, there is still no hostage deal and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is facing possible collapse. 

Netanyahu has found an unlikely ally in former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, who extended a ‘security net’ to the conservative leader this week in a move to secure the government as negotiations with Hamas remain ongoing. 

‘Nothing is more important than making this deal, bringing our hostages back home,’ Lapid said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

The need for Lapid’s political backing comes as right-wing leaders in Netanyahu’s coalition, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have repeatedly criticized Netanyahu’s acceptance of President Donald Trump’s peace plan with Hamas and threatened to leave the coalition at numerous points over the last year. 

Netanyahu’s coalition lost its majority in the Israeli parliament in July when two ultra-Orthodox parties left their ministerial posts after an exemption that granted religious students a pass for military conscription expired. 

The move left Netanyahu’s coalition in control of just 50 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

‘Now he’s totally dependent on the extreme alt-right within his government that says no to any deal [with Hamas],’ Lapid explained. 

When asked how likely he thought it was that special elections would be triggered once parliament returns from its Autumn break on Oct. 19, Lapid said, ‘very likely.’

A special election is unlikely to happen sooner than February or March 2026, Lapid explained, pointing to a designated time frame that allows for campaigning in Israel, should the Knesset trigger an early election cycle by November – just seven months sooner than the previously scheduled October 2026 elections. 

Lapid believes the Israeli public will favor a more centrist government that would encompass both the right and left, a move that would still prioritize Israeli security, but also ensure there is an end to the war in Gaza and repairs are made to Jerusalem’s international standing.

‘If there’s one thing I’m sorry about, [it] is the fact that nobody in the government has the political courage to stand up and say…this is a just war, we are doing what needs to be done in order to protect ourselves, but we are sorry for every child that loses his life,’ Lapid said. ‘Children should not die in grownups’ wars.’

‘As Jews, as human beings, as people who believe in Judeo-Christian traditions and morality, it’s heartbreaking,’ he added. 

Lapid said this failure of the current government not only led to ambiguity when it came to Israel’s strategy in countering Hamas, it fueled what he said is media bias and false reporting, and it cost Israel dearly in terms of international support, even among ‘groups that traditionally supported Israel.’

The opposition leader described a meeting he had with Netanyahu on Oct. 7, 2023, in which he said the prime minister appeared ‘gray and tired and old all of a sudden.’

 ‘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.

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.