Labor chief Michaeli says Israel ‘has no leadership,’ Netanyahu ‘must be replaced now’

Labor party leader Merav Michaeli says the government is failing to lead Israel during its toughest moments, and demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be ousted from office immediately.

“Even in our hardest hours, until today, we had leadership,” she says. “The State of Israel is in its hardest moment and the public feels that there is no leadership, there is no management.”

Michaeli charges that “the public sees the prime minister worrying only about himself,” after a incident yesterday in which Netanyahu — or a member of his staff — released a statement apparently foisting responsibility for Israel’s October 7 failure onto the heads of intelligence services.

Netanyahu later deleted the posted statement and issued a rare apology, but has yet to join a string of senior Israeli officials who have accepted blame for Israel’s catastrophic failure to prevent Hamas’s brutal attack.

“In such a state of no confidence, Netanyahu must be replaced now,” she says, “immediately.”