In a rare moment of consensus, Israel’s political forces agree in their criticism of the US-Iran two-week ceasefire. And while the centre-left politicians are unhappy with PM Netanyahu, the conservatives are criticising Trump.
Hours after the two-week truce between the US and Iran was announced on Tuesday night, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a brief statement, saying "Israel supports Donald Trump’s decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks."
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
"Israel also supports the US effort to ensure that Iran no longer poses a nuclear, missile and terror threat to America, Israel, Iran’s Arab neighbours and the world," the statement continued.
"The United States has told Israel that it is committed to achieving these goals, shared by the US, Israel and Israel’s regional allies, in the upcoming negotiations."
But inside Israel and the country’s political spectrum, the reaction has been far from supportive.
The leader of the Israeli opposition Yair Lapid harshly criticised Netanyahu, accusing him of failing to secure Israel’s demands as part of the ceasefire.
“There has never been such a diplomatic disaster in all our history,” he said in a post on X, stating that “Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made concerning the core of our national security.”
“The army did everything that was asked of it, the public showed amazing resilience, but Netanyahu failed politically, failed strategically, and didn’t meet a single one of the goals that he himself set.”
Lapid also said it will take Israel “years to repair the political and strategic damage that Netanyahu caused due to arrogance, negligence, and a lack of strategic planning.”
Speaking on Euronews’ interview programme 12 Minutes Withearlier in March, Lapid admitted that the US president cannot be persuaded or “pushed” into any decision, even by Israel.
“Does Donald Trump strike you as someone who can be pushed around? I don't think so," Lapid told Euronews.
”He's the president of the biggest military army in the history of humanity. He's a determined man," Lapid said.
"Israel is filled with gratitude and admiration for his courage, for his moral clarity on the issue, for the fact that he decided to go into this war, understanding this is protecting peace on Earth.”
Lapid then went on to say that, with the exception of US First Lady Melania Trump, he does not think "anybody can push Donald Trump to do something he doesn't want to do.”
Yair Golan, head of the centre-left The Democrats party, accused Netanyahu of lying on X.
“Netanyahu lied. He promised a ‘historic victory’ and security for generations, and in practice, we got one of the gravest strategic failures Israel has known," Golan said.
Golan stated that after “blood was spilled ... brave citizens killed (and) soldiers fell ... none of the goals were accomplished”.
“The nuclear program was not destroyed; the ballistic threat remains; the regime is in place and is even stronger coming out of this war," he added.
Israel’s conservative politicians directed their criticism at Trump.
Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, warned that “a ceasefire with Iran gives the ayatollahs’ regime a break and time to regroup.”
“Any agreement with Iran, without giving up on destroying Israel, enriching uranium, manufacturing ballistic missiles and supporting terror groups in the region, means we’ll return to another war in harder conditions with a heavier price,” Liberman wrote on X.
The ceasefire deal was also met with immediate criticism from within Netanyahu’s coalition, including head of the National Security Committee Tzvika Foghel, who criticised Trump on X.
“Donald, you came off as a duck," Foghel said.
Fogel did not comment on Netanyahu’s role in the ceasefire and deleted this X post shortly after publishing.