Former IDF chief and minister Gadi Eisenkot accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of fabricating a nuclear-threat narrative, stating that Iran did not have nuclear bombs and that the prime minister is manipulating reality to frighten the public. The remarks sharply escalated the domestic political confrontation over the government's security messaging.
Opposition war cabinet observer and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot on Wednesday morning escalated his criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, directly accusing him of misleading the public over Iran's nuclear capabilities. In a statement reported by multiple Israeli outlets, Eisenkot said: "Iran did not have nuclear bombs; Netanyahu is inventing a reality to scare the public."
The charge targets what Eisenkot frames as the prime minister's deliberate inflation of the Iranian threat to justify his policies and rally political support. The remark follows Netanyahu's own statement from earlier this week — which Eisenkot dismissed as offering "zero real answers" — and marks a deepening rift within the country's political-security leadership on how to communicate Iran's nuclear program to the public.
Eisenkot, who served as IDF chief of staff and later as a minister in the Netanyahu-led government, is viewed as a heavyweight critic whose military credentials lend weight to his security assessments. The exchange comes as Israel faces multiple security fronts, but the focus now swings to a charged debate over whether the government is accurately representing intelligence assessments.
No immediate response from the Prime Minister's Office was reported.
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