Bennett defends revealing Iran strikes, says Israel lets itself be held hostage by regime

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett defends himself in the face of criticism from Israeli officials after he revealed that he directed Israel’s security forces to strike Iran on two separate occasions in 2022.

“The problem with Iran is not the publication of moves we made against it that were already public knowledge, but that they hold us hostage through Hamas and Hezbollah, and even the Houthis,” he says in a written statement. “The governments of the last decade talk and sermonize but don’t exact a painful price from the leaders of Iran.”

Bennett accuses Israel of “falling right into the trap of the Iranian octopus,” and adds that Israel’s overarching goal must be “cutting off the head of the octopus and overthrowing the Iranian regime.”

Iran is a terror octopus. Its arms—Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houtis—are sowing chaos and terror across the world.

It’s time for the US and its allies to target its head, Tehran, and bring down its regime. pic.twitter.com/QRqyZi5WV2

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) December 29, 2023