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An explosive political scandal erupted in Israel after The New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump had blocked an Israeli operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Key opposition figures Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett reacted sharply to this information, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of disorganisation, political gain and dangerous inaction, Israeli media reported.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that back in October he proposed to strike at Iran’s oil infrastructure, but Netanyahu “got scared and stopped the plan”.
“Netanyahu hesitated again, got scared again. We lost the moment when Israel could have acted decisively. This is not just a mistake – it is a strategic weakness that will cost us dearly,” Lapid said.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister and potential rival of Netanyahu on the right wing, Naftali Bennett, directly accused the current Prime Minister of leaking information about the delayed attack to the American press.
“Netanyahu’s doctrine is to threaten, threaten, threaten again, and then leak to the media that he was going to act but was prevented. This is a dangerous tradition,” Bennett said.
In his view, such a policy leads to the loss of the element of surprise and undermines confidence in Israel’s resolve among allies and adversaries.
“This is another dangerous concept that could explode right in front of our noses. We won’t get another opportunity like this again,” Bennett added.
For its part, the prime minister’s office has not yet provided an official comment on the leak to the NYT or the accusations of blocking the deal. However, political tensions in Israel are rising, amid the Iranian threat, external pressure, and the struggle for the right to vote by both the opposition and Netanyahu’s allies on the right.
