BICOM

Former senior military and defence officials yesterday attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security record. However, Netanyahu himself warned that Zionist Union leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni will endanger Israel’s security.

With the election campaign in its final week, the Commanders for the Security of Israel forum held a press conference yesterday. The group includes former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit, former commander of the IDF Armoured Corps Maj Gen Amnon Reshef, Gen Giora Inbar who commanded IDF forces in Lebanon and Big Gen Asher Levy, a former Head of IDF Southern Command. Shavit said “Netanyahu, you are at head of the pyramid … Others are not guilty of failure with Hamas, on the Iranian nuclear issue; no one else has turned the US from an ally.” They asked “where has your sense of responsibility gone?… It’s time you answer the tough questions or you won’t win the elections.”

Yesterday’s statement comes after former Mossad head Meir Dagan headlined a large rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night in which he said that the current leadership lacked vision and direction and that Netanyahu had failed to “lead one real move to change the face of the region or to create the foundation for a better future.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu took aim at the ability of his opponents to tackle the security challenges facing Israel. Speaking to the Jerusalem Post, he declared “Our security is at great risk because there is a real danger that we could lose this election.” Should Zionist Union win, said Netanyahu, “You will get prime ministers who completely prostrate themselves to any pressure. Not only can’t they stand up to pressure, they don’t want to stand up to the pressure.” Netanyahu explained that there will be pressures to divide Jerusalem and “to relinquish our opposition to the Iranian deal,” and predicted “They [Herzog and Livni] can’t stand up for a millisecond” and will “capitulate on all fronts.”