Interior Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) on Monday blasted MK Yitzhak Herzog, one of the leaders of the “Zionist Camp”, over his continued criticism of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech before the United States Congress.
“Here is a summary of Buji Herzog’s recent interviews,” Erdan wrote on his Facebook page. “The Washington Post: Iran is not an existential threat. New York Times: Buji attacked the Prime Minister that he confronts the American government and is not accepting a bad agreement with Iran as a fait accompli. Army Radio this morning: no need to thwart the agreement with Iran, because the alternative may be worse.”
“Is that so, Buji? Anything goes because we are in an election period? Even sabotaging public diplomacy and, in practice, sabotaging all of us, all the citizens of Israel? Too bad you and your partner (Tzipi Livni -ed.) are not able to rise for a moment above the narrow political considerations and are choosing to back the dangerous agreement with Iran, instead of standing alongside the Prime Minister,” Erdan continued.
He added that Herzog and Livni’s inability to rise above politics is indicative of the huge gap in their understanding of the danger of the agreement being negotiated between the West and Iran.
Erdan called on the other parties to back Netanyahu’s speech in Congress. “My colleagues from all parties, no matter which side of the political spectrum: Please, put politics aside for a moment and stand as a responsible opposition behind the Prime Minister, who is now on a mission of national and historic importance of the highest order,” he concluded.
Erdan’s comments come amid continued criticism from the left of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
MKs and activists from the left also tried to prevent the speech from being broadcast on television by filing a petition on the matter with the Central Elections Committee.
While he did not cancel the broadcast, the chairman of the committee, Justice Salim Joubran, ruled that broadcasters would transmit the speech by a delay of five minutes, allowing senior editors to censor remarks by the Prime Minister that they deem as electioneering.
