Israel Opposition Leaders Slam Netanyahu Over Ceasefire with Iran

 People enter an underground parking garage as sirens warn of an incoming missile fired from Yemen in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP)
People enter an underground parking garage as sirens warn of an incoming missile fired from Yemen in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP)
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Israel Opposition Leaders Slam Netanyahu Over Ceasefire with Iran

 People enter an underground parking garage as sirens warn of an incoming missile fired from Yemen in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP)
People enter an underground parking garage as sirens warn of an incoming missile fired from Yemen in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP)

Israel's opposition leaders swiftly criticized the ceasefire with Iran on Wednesday, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to achieve the war's objectives. 

The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire in an 11th-hour bid to avert all-out destruction of Iran threatened by US President Donald Trump. 

Netanyahu's office said Israel supported Trump's decision to suspend the bombing of Iran, but maintained the ceasefire "does not include Lebanon" where Israeli forces are fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah. 

"There has never been a political disaster like this in our entire history. Israel was not even close to the table when decisions were made concerning the core of our national security," the country's main opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X. 

"The army carried out everything that was asked of it, and the public showed remarkable resilience, but Netanyahu failed politically, failed strategically, and did not achieve any of the goals he himself set." 

Netanyahu had set the elimination or at least severe degradation of Iran's nuclear program as a central goal of the war, describing it as an "existential threat" to Israel. 

He also called for the neutralizing of Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, the weakening or potentially toppling of the Iranian regime and the curbing of Tehran's regional influence by targeting its network of allied groups. 

"It will take us years to repair the political and strategic damage that Netanyahu caused due to arrogance, negligence, and lack of strategic planning," Lapid said. 

The head of the left-wing Democrats party, Yair Golan, called the ceasefire a "strategic failure" by Netanyahu. 

"He promised a historic victory and security for generations, and in practice, we got one of the most severe strategic failures Israel has ever known," Golan said on X. 

"It's a total failure that endangers Israel's security for years to come." 

Member of parliament and opposition figure Avigdor Liberman also denounced the truce, saying it gave the Iranian regime "an opportunity to regroup". 

"Any agreement with Iran that does not include renouncing the destruction of Israel, uranium enrichment, the production of ballistic missiles, and support for terrorist organizations in the region means that we will have to return to another campaign under more difficult conditions and pay a heavier price," Liberman said on X. 

More reaction was expected to come later on Wednesday after the end of the Jewish holiday of Passover. 

Even as Israel backed Trump's ceasefire plan with Iran, it said the truce did not include Lebanon. 

Israel has been fighting a war with Hezbollah since the Lebanese armed group launched rocket fire at Israel in March after the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war. 



Trump to Make First Flight on Qatar-Gifted Jet This Week

(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
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Trump to Make First Flight on Qatar-Gifted Jet This Week

(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)
(FILES) In this February 15, 2025 a Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after US President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on February 15, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

US President Donald Trump will make his first flight on a new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar later this week, the White House said Monday.

Trump will take the jet on Wednesday to North Dakota for an event marking the 250th anniversary of US independence, a White House official told AFP.

As he unveiled the plane earlier this month, Trump praised the Gulf emirate for being “so nice and providing” the modified Boeing 747, which previously served Qatar's head of state.

Trump has been obsessed since his first term with replacing the aging jets that serve as Air Force One, and he hand-picked the new plane's red, white and blue livery.

But critics have raised a host of ethical, constitutional and security concerns about the gifting of an aircraft worth hundreds of millions of dollars by a foreign power like Qatar.

The US Constitution prohibits presidents and other officeholders from receiving “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” unless approved by Congress.

Trump's administration has said the plane is a direct gift to the US Department of Defense -- while stoking further concern by saying the plane would eventually be donated to Trump's presidential library.

The Qatari-gifted plane is meant to be a stopgap until US planemaker Boeing delivers two new 747-8 aircraft to serve as the presidential jet in a program plagued by delays and cost overruns.


Türkiye Must Be ‘Included’ in Europe Security Structures, Says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Must Be ‘Included’ in Europe Security Structures, Says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the opening ceremony of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 17, 2026. (Reuters)

Türkiye must be included in all of Europe's defense structures and defence trade restrictions between NATO members must be removed, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday ahead of a key NATO summit.

His remarks come as Europe revamps its defenses to counter Russia and the risk of a US pullback from NATO, which is to hold a summit in the Turkish capital Ankara on July 7-8.

"Türkiye's indispensable contributions to European security are sometimes overlooked," Erdogan told parliamentary delegates from all 32 NATO member states in Istanbul. He said Türkiye wanted "to participate in all defense and security initiatives" on the continent.

At issue is Türkiye's access to the European Union's 150-billion-euro ($176-billion) Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, intended to strengthen European defense capabilities.

"We expect your support, lawmakers, for Türkiye's inclusion in the defense and security initiatives announced by the European Union," Erdogan told them.

Within SAFE, firms from non-EU countries such as Türkiye, Britain and the United States can only supply up to 35 percent of the component costs of weaponry funded by the scheme.

If Türkiye wants its companies to be able to tap a bigger part of the funds Ankara needs to sign a security partnership with the EU and then negotiate special access with Brussels -- a process that would require approval from all 27 EU members. Greece has threatened to block such a move.

"Under SAFE, any third country can participate in a defense project up to a level of 35 percent. Any negotiations with a view to potentially increasing or lifting this 35 per cent cap ... would require a bilateral agreement," said Thomas Regnier, a European Commission spokesperson.

"For now, this is not an agreement we have concluded with Türkiye."

- 'Remove the obstacles' -

Erdogan also urged NATO to remove all barriers blocking defense industry trade between alliance members.

"If we want to overcome the challenges we face, we need to remove obstacles to defense industry trade while ensuring a balanced and fair burden-sharing among allies," he said.

Türkiye has the second-biggest army of the alliance after the United States and a burgeoning defense industry which has gone from strength to strength fueled by bilateral defense deals.

But its defense industry has been hit by US sanctions imposed over Ankara's purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defense system. Washington also booted Türkiye out of its F-35 program, in a move that has soured relations between the NATO allies.

Although Washington has expressed a desire to draw a line under the dispute, lifting the sanctions requires Congressional approval. Observers say there is little chance the showdown would be resolved before the summit.

US President Donald Trump has however pledged to give Erdogan something that would make him "very happy" when he flies in next week for the NATO gathering.

Analysts said it was likely to be a delivery of several dozen US-made F110 engines Türkiye needs for its fifth-generation KAAN fighter jets that are under development. Delivery of the engines had been blocked since the imposition of the US sanctions.


Trump Says Iran Requested Meeting to be Held in Doha Tuesday

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Trump Says Iran Requested Meeting to be Held in Doha Tuesday

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

US President Donald Trump said that Iran has requested a meeting that will be held in the Gulf state of Qatar on Tuesday, despite an earlier denial from Tehran that talks were planned.

"IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday.

Shortly afterwards, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would be "flying to Doha for high level meetings this week".

Iran's foreign ministry earlier on Monday denied reports that Iranian and American technical teams will meet this week to discuss the implementation of the deal to end the Middle East war.

Uncertainty over the talks followed renewed tit-for-tat attacks between the United States and Iran in recent days despite an April ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding, brokered by Pakistan and Qatar, aimed at permanently ending the war.

A diplomat with knowledge of the talks confirmed to AFP on Monday that officials from the US and Iran are to meet in Doha to discuss the accord.

"Technical teams working on the implementation of the MoU are scheduled to meet in Doha in the coming days," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

The diplomat added "communications channels created to de-escalate any incidents are in place," following strikes between the US and Iran.