Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu this evening (Monday) sharply attacked Prime Minister Yair Lapid, following the agreement being formed between Israel and Lebanon on the maritime border between them: “Lapid surrendered to Hezbollah’s threats,” he said at a press conference he convened at Ze’ev Citadel in Tel Aviv. “His surrender agreement is illegal and he will not bind us.”
“We are in a dangerous time,” Netanyahu declared. “Because of the government of Lapid, Gantz and Abbas, with the support of Ahmed Tibi, Israel is weaker and in great danger. It’s time to say no. Enough of this dangerous government of weakness.”
“During the last ten years of my term, I refused to submit to Hezbollah’s dictates,” Netanyahu added. “While Nasrallah was in the bunker, we destroyed the terror tunnels he had built for a decade. In just three months, after one threat from Nasrallah, Lapid surrendered in shame. He gave Hezbollah everything it demanded.”
“The former US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said today that Hezbollah received 100% and Israel received 0% – and he is right. Lapid gave the cake and barely left us crumbs. Nasrallah receives Israeli sovereign territory, and also a gas field worth billions of dollars. What do you think Nasrallah will do with these billions – build hospitals, roads or kindergartens? He will use this money to arm himself with missiles and rockets aimed at Israeli cities. This is a shameful surrender under the threat of terrorism. It will not bring us peace or calm, it will bring us war under much more difficult conditions.”
“This agreement is an illegal agreement, so it does not bind the right-wing government that we will establish on November 1,” the opposition leader stated. “The agreement is illegal, because in order to hand over a sovereign territory of the State of Israel, we need either a majority of 80 members of the Knesset or a referendum.”
Earlier, Lapid addressed the opposition’s criticism of the agreement: “I hear Netanyahu and his people continue to talk about the agreement with Lebanon without having seen it and without knowing what is in it. So here is what Israel will receive – 100% of the security needs as defined by the security establishment, 100% From the Harish reservoir with 100% of the revenue to the citizens of Israel, and even a percentage of the revenue from the gas field in Lebanon.”
“I understand the frustration of those who have been unable to reach such an agreement for ten years,” added Lapid, “but this is no reason to join the propaganda of Nasrallah and Hezbollah. The Israeli government will continue to work quietly to close the agreement for the benefit of the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”