Labor Chairman Yitzhak Herzog continues to feel the heat from his Munich meetings Sunday, as more politicians personally attack him.
Herzog attended the international Munich Security Conference this past weekend, where he had an impromptu meeting with United States Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday.
In a radio interview Sunday, Herzog tried to downplay the meeting, noting that it was a friendly, random encounter in a hallway during the conference, and only lasted a few moments.
However, as the meeting came a day after an official announcement that Biden would not be attending the controversial joint Congress speech given by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Likud MKs were up in arms.
“Buji’s behavior in Munich is an irresponsible crossing of red lines,” the party said. “As the Prime Minister is trying to prevent a dangerous agreement between world powers and Iran, the leader of the Opposition chooses to weaken Israel’s position in the international arena.”
Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid joined the fray Sunday, accusing Herzog of publicly bashing Israel’s current foreign policy and “airing your dirty laundry” in front of the entire world.
“What we’ve seen in the last few days is a loss of rationale regarding the Iranian issue, which is a much more important issue than the political needs of all political parties,” Lapid said.
The Yesh Atid Chairman was speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv, attended by hundreds of high school student who will vote for the first time in elections for the 20th Knesset.
“Buji made a mistake – you do not attack the incumbent prime minister abroad and in front of foreign media on a subject like the Iranian issue.”
It would appear Lapid was trying to distance himself from the left-wing Labor party, but he had only criticism for Netanyahu, the Likud’s Chairman, as well.
Lapid stressed that Netanyahu should reconsider his speech speech to the US Congress, as the invitation to speak, made without the White House’s knowledge, had erupted into a diplomatic storm with Israel’s closest ally.
“Netanyahu made a mistake and is still making a mistake. He has to cancel the visit to the US Congress,” Lapid emphasized. “Instead of helping Israeli interests by working to prevent an Iranian nuclear program, his trip harms Israeli interests.”
“Both [Netanyahu and Herzog] need to stop dealing with local politics and remember that the important thing is to stop the Iranian nuclear program,” Yesh Atid’s Chairman concluded.