‘We are all one fist against Hezbollah’ – Israel’s opposition leaders largely support gov’t on IDF strikes in Lebanon

Liberman and Sa’ar attack gov’t from the right, demand broad attack vs Hezbollah

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After Israeli pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah targets largely thwarted a large-scale assault that the terror group intended to carry out on Sunday morning, most of Israel’s political leadership, including the opposition, backed the government’s decision.

The cabinet ministers were instructed not to conduct any interviews or issue statements for the time being. So far, only Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Foreign Minister Israel Katz have released statements on Sunday.

Benny Gantz, whose party has led most opinion polls for the duration of the war, wrote on his account on 𝕏 in the morning: “We are all one fist against Hezbollah – the government and the IDF have full, broad and complete backing.”

Gantz, chairman of the National Unity party, recently left the war cabinet after joining Netanyahu's emergency government last October. In his post, he stressed: “Follow the directives of the Home Front Command - they save lives.”

During a visit to the north later in the day, Gantz said the strikes were “too little, too late,” and demanded the government move “from response to initiative.”

Early on Sunday morning, Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid, among the government’s most consistent and sharpest critics, said that he is “backing and supporting the operation of the IDF in the north. Any attempt to attack Israel will be met with a heavy hand and with the capabilities of the IDF and the security system.”

Later on Sunday morning, Lapid blasted National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for an ad attacking Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, before stating the Israeli strikes were “a justified and necessary act of self-defense,” and calling on the world to support Israel.

A note to the international media:

Hezbollah is not a "militant organization" or an “armed group”. It is an Islamic fundamentalist, murderous, terrorist organization that targets innocent civilians.

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— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) August 25, 2024

Finally, he urged international media not to label Hezbollah a "militant organization" or "armed group."

"It is an Islamic fundamentalist, murderous, terrorist organization that targets innocent civilians,” Lapid wrote on 𝕏.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog echoed the sentiment in a statement.

The “decisive action we witnessed early this morning epitomizes Israel's right and duty to defend itself and its citizens against the threat of terrorism.” He thanked security forces for their “immense sacrifices.”

The leaders of the largest Arab parties in the Israeli Knesset (parliament) – Ayman Odeh, head of Hadash-Ta'al, and Mansour Abbas, head of Ra’am – had not publicly commented on the strikes at the time of publication.

Yair Golan, a fierce critic of the government and leader of the newly created far-left party, The Democrats, joined Lapid in condemning Ben Gvir but did not issue any public statements regarding the strikes on Hezbollah.

Finally, the two right-wing opposition leaders expressed support for the strikes while simultaneously criticizing the government for not doing enough and calling for action that would fundamentally change the situation in Israel’s north.

“The Israeli government must act according to the intentions of the enemy and not according to the results,” Liberman said.

“If Hezbollah indeed intended to launch 6,000 projectiles (missiles, drones, etc.), with the main purpose of damaging the strategic infrastructure of the State of Israel, it is impossible to be satisfied with just removing the threat,” Liberman charged.

New Hope party chairman Gideon Sa’ar blamed the government for “once again” choosing the “least correct strategic option.”

“The choice to only thwart the attack after ten and a half months of Hezbollah’s attack on Israel is a continuation of the policy of containment. This decision has one meaning: Only our enemies will determine the timing and level of escalation,” he wrote on 𝕏.

“This opportunity should have led to a decision on an overall preemptive attack to change the reality in the north. Leaving the existing reality in the north of the country intact means the continuation of containment… Whoever runs away from war will be chased by it,” Sa’ar added.