Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud slammed on Monday Premier Naftali Bennett’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
“Bennett gave an empty speech in front of an empty hall and wasted empty words instead of making use of a major international platform,” Likud said in a lengthy statement that expressed strong disapproval with all parts of Bennett’s address.
The opposition party mocked Bennett’s decision to speak on the last day of the Assembly’s 76th session.
It described the premier’s words on Iran “empty,” noting that he has already “promised not to wage a global struggle against the nuclear agreement and subjugated our operational activity to prior coordination with the Americans.”
“Bennett showed himself to the world as an inexperienced Israeli politician who only has six Knesset seats — like a tree that falls in the woods and nobody sees, hears or cares about,” the statement read.
Lawmakers in the Likud and the far-right Religious Zionism party slammed Bennett as well over the clashes in the West Bank on Sunday.
The Israeli army killed five Palestinians and arrested 20 others, it claimed were planning to carry out armed operations in Israel. However, the deputies considered the army’s response “weak compared to the Palestinian violence.”
Bennett’s policy “convinces Palestinians that the Israeli government is weak, gives Hamas the green light to carry out attacks, and opens the door for other enemies to attack Israel.”
Lawyer Michal Woldiger criticized Bennet’s government, stressing that many soldiers died after surrendering to Hamas.
On the other hand, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hailed Bennett’s address, saying it made every Israeli “proud.”
Most of the Israeli media said that Bennett has passed the test successfully.
“He did not resort to childish games as did his predecessor (Netanyahu), but rather proved that there is a different prime minister in Israel who is more friendly and positive.”
The left-wing Meretz party also issued a statement denouncing Bennett for ignoring the Palestinian cause and the permanent peaceful solution.
