Lapid: Netanyahu must acknowledge errors in 2014 Gaza war

Ahead of the release of the state comptroller’s report on the 2014 Gaza War, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to cover up mistakes he made rather than fixing them.

“What is more worrying than the mistakes is the denial,” Lapid tells his weekly faction meeting in the Knesset. “The attempt to deal with public perception and politics and media spin comes at the expense of national security. That’s not how to run a country.”

The report, which is due tomorrow, deals primarily with the decision-making process in the high-level security cabinet, of which Lapid was a member at the time of the war. According to leaks from the report, the comptroller says that the prime minister did not give members of the cabinet enough information during the military operation.

“This is a professional and in-depth report and it is also tough and serious with personal criticism of the prime minister, the defense minister and senior IDF officials,” Lapid says, adding that he does not think Netanyahu should resign over the report but that he must admit his error and learn from the mistakes.

Asked if, as a senior minister and member of the security cabinet at the time, he also bears responsibility. Lapid said that “the buck stops” with the prime minister.

— Raoul Wootliff