Opposition rallies around Iran campaign, despite long opposing PM’s leadership
Lapid says Netanyahu must go, but not during ‘existential fight’; former PM Bennett: ‘There is no left, no opposition and no coalition’ when it comes to preventing Iranian nukes
Roughly 24 hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a blistering assault on Iran, Israel’s opposition was scheming to bring down his government.
Now, just days into the ongoing operation against Iran, the opposition has closed ranks behind the campaign, despite months of bitter criticism against Netanyahu and his handling of the war in Gaza.
“It’s not the right moment to do politics,” opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid told The Associated Press on Monday in his first international media interview since the start of the operation against Iran.
Israel began attacking Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure in a shock campaign early Friday, saying the move was needed to thwart an immediate existential nuclear threat to the Jewish state. Iran has responded with repeated deadly barrages of missiles, along with drones, at Israeli cities that are mostly intercepted by Israel’s air defenses.
Lapid spoke just days after he called from the dais of the Knesset for an election to oust Netanyahu.
“Yes, this government needs to be toppled, but not in the midst of an existential fight,” Lapid said.
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, who leads another large centrist party in the opposition, told UK-based Iran International, “The decision to preemptively act against Iran was justified and necessary, and on that matter the Israeli opposition stands fully united with the coalition.
“The people of Israel stand completely united in achieving our objectives, and any disagreements we may have will have to wait for other times,” he said.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, whom polls have shown to be a consistent favorite to replace Netanyahu if early elections were held, told Channel 13 on Sunday, “There is no right, no left, no opposition and no coalition” when it comes to the Iran strikes.
The State of Israel is “working to remove the cancerous growth called the Iranian nuclear program that threatens our existence,” said Bennett, who has long called for a strike on Iran’s nuclear program.
The Islamic Republic, which vows to destroy Israel, says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. However, it enriches uranium up to 60 percent — a level that has no civilian purpose and is close to the 90% threshold needed for a nuclear warhead — and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.
The past 20 months have been an unprecedented time in Israeli history, after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparked the war in Gaza, where 53 captives, including some 20 believed to be alive, are still held by terror groups.
The war has also seen fighting against Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen, and, on several occasions already before the newer conflagration, Iran itself.
Netanyahu, a divisive leader who has governed nearly uninterrupted for 16 years, has been at the helm throughout that period. On trial for alleged corruption, he has stoked accusations that he’s prolonging the war in Gaza to appease his governing partners and delay an election that could put an end to his rule.
While Netanyahu says he’s acting in Israel’s best interest, opposition parties have hit hard at that idea. But Lapid emphasized Monday that his support for attacking Iran’s nuclear program meant backing the military, but not any specific politicians.
“We didn’t rally behind the government,” Lapid said from his party office in Tel Aviv. “We rallied behind the necessity to operate on the moment that was inevitable.”
Throughout most of the war, Lapid and other opposition lawmakers have pushed Netanyahu to make a deal with Hamas to free hostages held in Gaza.
Lapid made a speech last month to the Knesset marking 600 days since the start of the war in Gaza. He slammed Netanyahu for bringing a conflict upon Israel that didn’t exist during his own brief time in office.
Netanyahu, whose own political fortunes have largely dimmed throughout the Middle East conflict, has enjoyed brief bumps in public support on the tail of military successes, like the devastation of Hezbollah last year. Netanyahu could potentially receive a similar boost if public opinion rallies behind the Iran operation.
Polls before the campaign showed that Netanyahu would struggle to form a coalition if an election were held today. Lapid’s party, now the second largest with 24 seats in the 120-seat parliament, could lose half or more of its support, polls show.
But Lapid said that the politics and Netanyahu’s motivations were irrelevant now, because striking Iran was “the right thing to do.”
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a bitter political rival,” said Lapid. “I think he’s the wrong person to lead the country. But on that, he was right.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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