Former top defense officials: Netanyahu’s conduct could harm Israeli and US security

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is en route to the United States, a group of former top defense officials releases a letter in both Hebrew and English warning of “significant harm” to Israel’s security from the judicial overhaul led by the government.

The letter, which also accuses Netanyahu of “deceit of the defense establishment,” is addressed to Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, who chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Among the signatories are ex-prime minister Ehud Barak and fellow former IDF chiefs Dan Halutz and Moshe Ya’alon. Other prominent signatories include Tamir Pardo and Efraim Halevy, both former heads of Mossad.

“These actions—led and promoted by Netanyahu—are transforming the State of Israel from a democracy based on the principles of our Declaration of Independence to an autocracy that harms Israel’s national strength through the dismantling the IDF, its defense establishment, economy, financial stability, and risks the social fabric of the people and the State of Israel,” they further add.

“Netanyahu’s conduct and the manner in which he makes decisions, could cause significant damage to the national security of Israel and also to the national security of Israel’s close ally – the USA.”