Lapid: ‘Submarine affair’ proves Netanyahu is a danger to Israel’s security

Responding to the news that a state commission of inquiry accused Benjamin Netanyahu of “risking the state’s security and harming Israel’s foreign relations,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares the prime minister a danger to Israel.

“Netanyahu is a danger to Israel’s security. So it was the case of the submarines, so it was with the Mount Meron disaster, so it was regarding all of the conduct that led to and caused the October 7 massacre,” he says.

This morning, the commission investigating the so-called submarine affair announced that it is sending warning notices to five individuals it believes may be harmed by its probe, including Netanyahu.

The commission of inquiry, formed under then-premier Naftali Bennett in 2022, stated that Netanyahu had “created parallel and conflicting channels of action, thereby risking the state’s security and harming Israel’s foreign relations.”

Earlier this year, a different state commission of inquiry named the premier among the officials personally responsible for the 2021 Meron disaster, in which 45 Israelis were trampled to death during a pilgrimage at the grave of a revered second-century rabbi.

Lapid also slams the Knesset Finance Committee, after it votes to appropriate part of the 2023 budget surplus to various ministries, including millions of shekels for ultra-Orthodox education.

“This is money stolen from the pockets of Israeli citizens, during wartime. It’s the taxes of the middle class that this cynical bunch is robbing. The good citizens of Israel go to the reserves, and by the time they return from service, these corrupt people steal their money,” he says.

“I want to say from here to Likud voters: You were betrayed. Your elected officials betrayed you,” he declares.