Lapid: PM must confront Trump over Saudi arms deal

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid criticizes the Israeli government for failing to block the massive US-Saudi arms deal inked in Riyadh some 10 days ago.

“The defense minister has expressed deep and justified concern about the deal, but the Prime Minister’s Office said it’s ‘not concerned.’ On what basis are they not concerned? The Saudi deal was not coordinated with us, and even right now its full details are unknown,” Lapid says at the start of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset Monday.

“The State of Israel has always known to act against these arms deals — in extreme cases to torpedo them, in other cases, to minimize the damage, in all cases to preserve our qualitative edge in the Middle East,” he says.

Lapid warns the weapons being sold to the Saudis are liable to fall into the wrong hands in the Middle East and ultimately be turned on Israel.

“The prime minister must demand public, not private, explanations, from the US president and his staff,” says Lapid, urging the Israeli security establishment to push for a compensation package from the Pentagon to uphold the country’s regional military edge.

“The prime minister must stop being afraid of President Trump’s short fuse and tell him publicly: For you it is a question of money and jobs — for us it’s a matter of life and death,” he says.

— Marissa Newman