Israeli opposition leader slams Netanyahu’s support for US-Iran ceasefire

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday sharply criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for backing a temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran, calling it a “political and strategic failure.” “We have never seen such a political catastrophe in our history. Israel was not even present when decisions were made about the core of our national security,” Lapid said on X. “It will take years to repair the political and strategic damage caused by Netanyahu due to his arrogance, negligence and lack of strategic planning,” he added. Lapid added that while the military and the public fulfilled their roles, the government failed to achieve its objectives. Read: FM blames Israel for torpedoing talks “The army carried out everything it was asked to do, and the people showed extraordinary resilience, but Netanyahu failed politically and strategically and did not achieve any of the goals he set for himself,” he said. His remarks came after Netanyahu’s office said Israel supports US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend military strikes against Iran for two weeks. However, Netanyahu's office said the two-week ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.” Trump announced on Tuesday that he agreed “to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”