Bennett slams Netanyahu over Iran strikes on Israel
The former PM said Israel is capable of victory but that the current government is not, as Netanyahu vowed to reject any new security equation imposed by Iran and Hezbollah
Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett released a statement Monday following Iranian strikes on Israel, using the moment to deliver a pointed indictment of PM Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. Bennett, the leader of the Together Party, argued that the current government is structurally incapable of achieving decisive results on any front.
“In the history of the State of Israel, the past 24 hours will be remembered as the beginning of the normalization of attacks from Iran,” he began. "The people of Israel are capable of achieving victory, but this government is not."
Bennett argued that Netanyahu cannot win because coalition politics paralyze his decision-making, citing a shortage of roughly 20,000 soldiers he attributed to the government's refusal to draft ultra-Orthodox men. “Netanyahu is incapable of achieving a decisive outcome on any front—not in Gaza, not in Lebanon, and not in Iran.”
He also accused ministers responsible for the home front of attending Likud party events instead of managing the drone threat and said legislation advancing to satisfy coalition partners was dividing Israeli society while soldiers fight in Lebanon.
“You cannot achieve victory when your ministers create public diplomacy disasters every few days. You cannot prevail when the ministers responsible for the home front and the drone threat spend their time moving from one political event for Likud party activists to another. You cannot achieve victory when, while our soldiers are risking their lives on the front lines in Lebanon, the government is advancing legislation that divides Israeli society in order to satisfy the demands of extremist coalition partners.”
Netanyahu, in his first public remarks since the renewed tensions, rejected any suggestion that Iran or Hezbollah could impose a new security equation on Israel. "In the past 24 hours they tried to impose a new equation on us. This is unacceptable," he said, adding that if Iran resumes attacks, Israel will respond forcefully. Netanyahu described Israel's campaign against Iran over the past year as a "historic preemptive strike" that prevented Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran has announced that their operation to strike Israel has ended but threatened harsher responses if Israel continues its fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon. As of now, the IDF is lifting almost all Home Front Command restrictions nationwide, starting Tuesday, despite being on heightened alert.