Netanyahu’s opponent says Israel has lost “deterrence” against Iran

JERUSALEM:

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Monday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of leading to a “total loss of Israeli deterrence” in the wake of an unprecedented Iranian attack.

In a scathing criticism published on X, former prime minister Lapid also said that under Netanyahu, “Jewish terrorist violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank was “out of control”.

Netanyahu, who returned to power in late 2022 at the helm of a coalition with far-right parties, has brought “heaps of disaster from Berri to Kiryat Shmona,” Lapid said, calling for early elections.

Beeri, a kibbutz community near the Gaza border, came under attack when Hamas fighters invaded the area on October 7, sparking the ongoing war, while the northern town of Kiryat Shmona has suffered months of cross-border fire between Israeli forces and of Hezbollah of Lebanon. .

Lapid’s remarks came two days after Iran — which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah — fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for a deadly attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Israel, the United States and other allies intercepted nearly all of the launches in the airstrike late Saturday — the first direct Iranian military action against Israel’s arch-enemy.

Also read: Biden says Netanyahu’s approach to Gaza war ‘wrong’

Netanyahu’s cabinet has weighed in on Israel’s response to the Iranian attack, but the prime minister has made no public comment.

In the West Bank, where violence has soared since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Israeli settlers torched Palestinian homes and cars over the weekend, killing at least two people, after an Israeli teenager was “killed in a suspected terrorist attack.” according to the Israeli military.

Pointing to increasing “terrorist” attacks by settlers, Lapid said: “If we don’t move this government, it will bring disaster upon us.”

The government, which includes settler hardliners, has prioritized the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.

Netanyahu has faced mass protests in recent months over the fate of hostages being held in Gaza and pressure from a renewed anti-government movement.

The prime minister’s Likud party hit back at Lapid in a statement highlighting Netanyahu’s role in the “global campaign” to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons — which Tehran denies it is pursuing.