Lapid, who has been tasked with forming a coalition after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate expired, also accused Kahanist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir of having a central role in the escalation in tensions that led to rioting around the country and ultimately Israel‘s flare-up with Gaza. “No one would let a card-carrying lunatic like Itamar Ben-Gvir to set Jerusalem and then the entire country ablaze.”