Yair Lapid Says Netanyahu’s Government Has Lost Control Over Security

Tel Aviv, MINA – Following settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid on Monday denounced the coalition government and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “losing control” of Israel’s security.

“What happened [on Sunday] was total anarchy,” Lapid told his party, Yesh Atid, referring to the settler violence in the Palestinian village of Huwara. “This anarchy is created because in this government, everyone has their own policy.” MEMO reports it.

Lapid said right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has one policy, Bezalel Smotrich, the political wing of the radical settler hilltop youth, has a second policy as an independent minister in the Defense Ministry, while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has a third. “And Netanyahu is weak and unable to put them in their place.”

He pointed out the deep differences of opinion between Netanyahu’s Likud and its right-wing partners over how to handle West Bank policies.

“Two months after the formation of a full right-wing government, the scope of attacks increased, ‘terrorists’ raised their heads and soldiers were confused and did not understand the chain of command,” Lapid said.

According to the Times of Israel, he added: “Netanyahu and Likud form a government with people marching [far right], chanting, ‘Burn their villages’. So now these people have burned a village.” (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)