Netanyahu charges government showing ‘weakness’ in face of upcoming Iran deal

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu slams the government for its purported “silence” in the face of the Iran nuclear talks that are said to be nearing their conclusion in Vienna.

“In the Bennett-Gantz-Lapid government there is only weakness, weakness and more weakness,” claims Netanyahu in a Likud faction meeting in the Knesset.

In an implied criticism of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s involvement in potentially brokering Ukraine-Russia talks, Netanyahu says that the burgeoning Iran deal is “what the government must be dealing with now.”

Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz “are simply not ready to confront even our allies,” he says.

“The silence of Israel during these days — except for some pro forma statements — leads our friends in the US” to also silence their own opposition to the deal.

“If they don’t see, if they don’t hear Israel opposing it, why should they oppose it themselves,” Netanyahu adds, claiming that Israel’s “strong opposition to the last deal” in 2015 “helped the US exit the deal” in 2018.