Opposition accuses PM of trying to cover up legal woes with northern operation

MK Yoel Hasson, chairman of the Zionist Union opposition faction, calls for an urgent meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “cheapening” the IDF and Israel’s security interests.

“The bulldozer operation in Israeli territory leaves us no alternative but to question the timing and the presentation” of Operation Northern Shield, Hasson says.

“The presentation [of it] to the public as a military offensive to justify [Jewish Home party leader Naftali] Bennett remaining in the government, and the timing which is meant to overshadow the police recommendations… are an insult to the residents of the north,” he adds.

Hasson was referring to this week’s police conclusion that Netanyahu should stand trial for bribery and various other offenses in the Bezeq-Walla corruption probe, known as Case 4000. Those recommendations were handed to the attorney general, who will make the final decision on whether to indict the premier.