In successive faction meetings Monday, opposition leaders Benny Gantz, Avigdor Lieberman, and Yair Lapid each criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu's position on the emerging U.S.-Iran agreement, as reported by Israeli media. Gantz said he feels no schadenfreude only deep concern, and urged Netanyahu to enlist opposition help to oppose what he called a bad deal; Lieberman said Netanyahu would have accused the previous government of treason had it agreed to the same terms; Lapid said Netanyahu 'lost the war' and collapsed at the decisive moment.
The sharpest coordinated opposition offensive yet against the emerging U.S.-Iran framework unfolded in three faction meetings within minutes of each other Monday afternoon.
Benny Gantz (National Unity) set the tone at 14:37 Jerusalem, saying he feels 'no schadenfreude, only deep concern' over the reported deal, and appealed to Prime Minister Netanyahu to bring in 'every relevant factor, including opposition members' to oppose what he called a bad deal and to make Israel's case internationally — a significant offer of cross-bench cooperation from the former defense minister and IDF chief of staff.
Two minutes later, as The Zioneer reported at 14:07, Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) drove a pointed political parallel: had the same agreement been signed during the 2021-2022 'change government,' Lieberman said, Netanyahu would have 'accused us of treason from every possible podium.'
At 14:39, Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) delivered the most sweeping indictment, declaring that 'Netanyahu lost the war. Netanyahu didn't deliver — he collapsed at the decisive moment.' Lapid had called the Iranian policy a 'total failure' in earlier remarks at 14:39.
The attacks follow a weekend in which opposition leaders across the spectrum — Naftali Bennett, Yair Golan — and commentators leveled similar criticism. The Biden administration has pushed forward with diplomatic outreach to Tehran despite Israeli objections, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance's Friday interview clip suggested Washington acknowledges daylight with Jerusalem on the nuclear file. None of the three opposition leaders specified what unilateral or diplomatic steps they would recommend instead; the coordinated timing signals an effort to keep political pressure high as the deal takes shape.
- DevelopingLapid calls Netanyahu's Iran front a 'total diplomatic failure'
- StrongGantz says he feels only concern, not schadenfreude, over emerging deal
- DevelopingLapid calls hostage-ceasefire deal a failure for Netanyahu
- DevelopingMK Lieberman: If the US signed the same deal with Iran, Netanyahu would accuse us of treason
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