Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party pushes back on criticism by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid over the former premier’s handling of ties with the Democratic Party, after $1 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system was removed from a bill to keep the US government funded in response to pressure from progressive House Democrats.
“Lapid’s claim concerning former prime minister Netanyahu and the Democrats again exposes his astonishing ignorance. It was Netanyahu who agreed with Obama’s Democratic administration on the largest ever American defense assistance package given to the State Of Israel of $38 billion,” Likud says in statement.
The comment came after Lapid swiped at Netanyahu following his conversation with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, who later vowed the Iron Dome funding bill would be brought to a separate vote this week.
“After years in which the previous government neglected Congress and the Democratic Party and caused significant damage to Israel-US ties, today we are rebuilding trust with Congress,” Lapid had tweeted.
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