‘After the applause, Netanyahu is alone’ — Herzog

Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, speaking in a town in the Gaza periphery, says some Israelis “understand that the country wants to be released from fear to a new hope.”

Herzog says he “does not think lightly of the Iranian threat” but he chose to be “here, not in Washington,” for the sake of the residents of Israel’s periphery.

Herzog concedes that the speech was a fine piece of oratory prowess, but laments that it “created a tear in the relations with the US,” and says it won’t stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“After the applause, Netanyahu is alone. Israel remains alienated. And the Iranian nuclear talks will continue,” he says.

“The fact that we have a large population which is hungry, wounded and sick” is the result of Netanyahu’s lack of responsibility, Herzog charges, adding that “I will take responsibility. I will be a leader who came to work for the people.”

The transmission of his speech is cut short on TV, with Channel 2 anchor Yonit Levi saying it was “blatant election propaganda.”

— Jonathan Beck contributed