Blue and White’s Ya’alon: Netanyahu exploiting virus for ‘personal political needs’

Blue and White MK Moshe Ya’alon, No. 3 on the centrist slate, accuses Prime Minister Netanyahu of exploiting the coronavirus outbreak for “personal political needs,” after the premier called on Blue and White to join an emergency government to deal with the virus.

“Whoever criticized us for warning we would turn into Erdogan’s Turkey should digest and internalize the cynical exploitation of the coronavirus, for personal political needs, by a defendant before his trial,” tweets Ya’alon.

He was referring to the opening of Netanyahu’s trial Tuesday on graft charges, which apparently could be delayed in light of the far-reaching restrictions taken by the government to combat the virus.

Ya’alon was a former Likud member before Netanyahu replaced him as defense minister in 2016 with Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman, and has since become a vocal critic of the prime minister.

כל מי שביקר אותנו כשהזהרנו מפני הפיכתנו לתורכיה של ארדואן, שיעכל ויפנים את הניצול הציני של משבר הקורונה, לצרכים פוליטיים אישיים, של נאשם לפני משפט.

— משה 'בּוֹגִי' יעלון (@bogie_yaalon) March 14, 2020