Opposition lawmakers hit out at Netanyahu after UK Palestine ultimatum

Opposition politicians are criticizing the government’s handling of the war and its fallout in response to the United Kingdom’s announcement that it will unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel commits to a ceasefire in Gaza and a long-term peace process.

“This government led us from the most justified war in the world to a diplomatic disaster,”  Opposition Leader Yair Lapid writes in a Hebrew-language post on X. “One failure after another. A prime minister who has vanished from the diplomatic arena, a useless foreign minister, and ministers who endanger IDF soldiers every time they open their mouths.”

Yisrael Betyenu chairman Avigdor Liberman posts in Hebrew: “The person responsible for the October 7 disaster is also responsible for the diplomatic collapse that keeps growing,” apparently referencing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“More and more countries are considering recognizing the catastrophe known as a Palestinian state — including the UK, one of the key members of the United Nations Security Council,” he says.

Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official tells Ynet that French President Emmanuel Macron “broke the dam” by announcing that Paris would recognize a Palestinian state in September.

The official says the UK’s move “was expected in light of the tremendous political pressure placed on the British — this is a Labour government. It’s a harmful declaration that sends the wrong message to Hamas not to agree to a deal.”