From the Liveblog of
Monday, December 9, 2024
Lapid accuses Netanyahu of focusing on himself rather than on Israel, harming national resilience
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Responding to Benjamin Netanyahu’s fiery press conference this evening in Jerusalem, in which he railed against the justice system and denied trying to avoid testifying in his graft trial, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses the prime minister of being focused on himself rather than on the nation he leads.
“In a day when four soldiers were killed in the north and three in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu is only concerned with one thing: himself. It was a shameful speech of ‘me, myself, and I,'” Lapid argues.
“Anyone who wanted to know why a person under indictment cannot be prime minister had only to watch his press conference tonight. It was a shameful collection of lies and stealing credit for the achievements of the security establishment, which acted heroically despite the weakness of his leadership.”
After discussing the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Netanyahu complained bitterly during his press conference about the “lies” and “fake news” regarding his conduct, stating that rather than seeking to avoid testifying in his ongoing corruption trial tomorrow, he has “waited eight years for the day when I can present the truth.”
Members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have called on the Jerusalem District Court to delay Netanyahu’s testimony because of developments in Syria, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich going so far as to claim that the judges are “harming national security” by rejecting their request.
According to Lapid, the “only reason” why Netanyahu held his press conference was because of the start of his testimony tomorrow.
“His victim blaming and false claim that he waited eight years for his testimony is a bad joke,” the Yesh Atid party chairman states, claiming that Netanyahu used “every trick possible, kosher or not,” to delay his testimony.
“The State of Israel will do just fine without him in the face of the security situation. If he weren’t there, we wouldn’t be in this situation at all. He is to blame for the October 7 attacks, he is to blame for the war, he is to blame for the fact that the kidnapped people have not yet returned. He is guilty of establishing a government of Messianic extremists that is tearing apart Israeli society. He is not contributing to national resilience, he is its biggest problem,” Lapid adds.
“Let him go, let him stand trial like any other person. If he wants to, let him make a plea bargain. The main thing is that he gets out of our lives and lets the State of Israel come back to life and return to sanity.”
