From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 24, 2026
Left-wing MK calls Netanyahu ‘dictator’ due to photo of armed guards clearing Tel Aviv beach ahead of PM’s Altalena video
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"
After Channel 12 publishes a photo of security officers with drawn weapons clearing the Tel Aviv beach of bathers so that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could record a video hailing the discovery of the Altalena ship, MK Naama Lazimi of the left-wing The Democrats party criticizes him as a “dictator.”
רודן. https://t.co/K2bkMO8uAm
— Naama Lazimi – נעמה לזימי (@naamalazimi) August 24, 2026
It’s one of a few instances of Netanyahu’s rivals criticizing his response to the discovery overnight of the Irgun gun-running ship that was shot down by the fledgling IDF in a deadly 1948 confrontation, an incident that saw 19 people killed and has become a rallying cry for the Israeli right.
Former premier Naftali Bennett, a Netanyahu rival, appears to obliquely criticize him for politicizing the rediscovery of the Altalena, after the prime minister uses the occasion to discuss the upcoming election.
During his remarks, Netanyahu repeated his campaign pledge to establish a “broad national government” following the October 27 election.
In a lengthy post on Twitter, Bennett praises Irgun leader and future Likud founder Menachem Begin for declining to shoot back when the Altalena came under fire, writing that “He understood that there are moments when leadership isn’t about firing up the base or beating your political opponent. Leadership is putting the country before yourself.”
Netanyahu also cited Begin’s reaction positively in his own address.
In a video addressed to Netanyahu, MK Avi Maoz, the sole representative of the far-right Noam party, argues that his government “refused to address the state’s critical core issues,” instead leaving them “in the hands of the deep-state bureaucrats” — and calls for a unified right-wing slate.
“Mr. Prime Minister, to guarantee right-wing rule and to save you from a compromise government with the left, you need Noam in the next Knesset. I call upon all other right-wing parties to join us under one roof for a unified right-wing alliance,” Maoz says.
The Times of Israel Community.