Netanyahu trading Israel’s security for political survival, says opposition leader

ANKARA

Opposition Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman Avigdor Lieberman sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, accusing him of presiding over a “political collapse” and prioritizing coalition survival over Israel’s security.

“We are in a political collapse; we have never been so isolated. There is no war management, only the survival of the coalition,” said Lieberman, speaking to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

Lieberman criticized the government’s lack of engagement in negotiations with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

“What bothers me is that there are initiatives from Egypt, Qatar, and the US, but I don’t see any Israeli proposal. The problem with this government is that political considerations always outweigh security ones,” he said.

On Aug. 18, Hamas agreed to a mediator-backed proposal for a partial ceasefire and prisoner swap in Gaza, but Israel has yet to respond, despite its terms aligning with a previous offer put forward by US envoy Steve Witkoff, which Tel Aviv had already accepted.

Instead, Netanyahu is pushing for the occupation of Gaza City under the pretext of freeing captives and defeating Hamas, a move widely doubted by opponents and former officials, with the Israeli military itself warning that the operation poses a grave risk to the lives of the captives.

The Israeli army has launched a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 63,700 Palestinians. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.