The current US administration is “appalled” by the conduct of Israel’s government, opposition leader MK Yair Lapid said in a press conference on Monday ahead of a meeting of his Yesh Atid party, after returning from a week-long visit to Washington.
“This government, this prime minister, has become an existential threat against Israel,” Lapid said. They destroyed Israeli deterrence. Our enemies look at this government, smell weakness, and raise their heads,” Lapid said.
“Our allies also smell this weakness. I was in Washington last week, in a meeting with top administration officials. They are appalled by this government: irresponsibility, the lack of professionalism, the failed management, the ingratitude,” Lapid said.
Lapid argued that the legacy of Netanyahu, who called himself “Mr. Security” in the past, was a “wasteland from Kiryat Shmona to Be’eri, violence by Jewish settlers that is out of hand, and a complete loss of Israeli deterrence.” He added that Netanyahu was delaying an agreement with Hamas to return its hostages.
כל מה שנשאר מ״מר בטחון״ זה עיי חורבות מבארי עד קרית שמונה, אלימות של טרוריסטים יהודים שיצאו משליטה, ואובדן גמור של ההרתעה הישראלית.אם לא נזיז את הממשלה הזו בזמן, היא תביא עלינו חורבן. היא כבר מביאה. הגיע הזמן לבחירות, עכשיו.
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) April 15, 2024
"Our problem is Iran, but our problem is also here … it is time for an election now," Lapid concluded.
Likud fires back
The Likud responded in a statement:
“Lapid, who signed an embarrassing surrender agreement with Hezbollah, and preferred to remain abroad this week while Israel was attacked, is not the person to preach. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who identified the Iranian threat already dozens of years ago, since then has led a global campaign against it, to prevent its obtaining nuclear weapons that would have been an existential threat against Israel.”
Lapid responded with a statement of his own:
“Israeli deterrence in Lebanon collapsed when Netanyahu enabled Hezbollah to build two tents in the sovereign territory of the State of Israel, as opposed to Lapid, who cut the maritime [border] agreement despite Hezbollah’s opposition.
“Regarding Iran: If Netanyahu worked all these years on the Iranian issue, how have they become a nuclear threshold state, and sent hundreds of drones and cruise missiles to attack the State of Israel?”
Later on Monday, Lapid called in the Knesset plenum for minister MK Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot to leave the government. Gantz and Eisenkot joined the government on October 11 and are members of Israel’s war cabinet, but have vowed to leave the government once they feel that they no longer influence the war. Lapid argued in his speech that “every time we are presented with a new proposal of theirs in the cabinet but no one listens to them,” and that the way to have true influence was to replace the current government with a new one.