Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that there was no need for the public to panic following his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night, after Netanyahu had warned of the possibility of Israel’s enemies attacking before the upcoming elections.
“Security threats must be handled professionally and responsibly,” Lapid said. “Israel’s security and IDF bases are not mere backdrops for election campaign videos.”
He also said that if Netanyahu were truly concerned about Israel’s national security, he would draft 15,000 haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft dodgers.
“The Chief of Staff has raised ten red flags regarding the shortage of combat troops and the erosion of readiness within the IDF,” Lapid said.
He also said that, in any event, the elections would take place at the proper time, and that there was no excuse to delay or move them.
Lapid added that he had demanded a four-way meeting between himself, Netanyahu, the head of the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency), and Chairman of the Central Elections Committee Justice Noam Sohlberg, in order to coordinate ahead of the election.
The Likud party responded to Lapid’s message on X/Twitter, saying that he had posted his thoughts on the meeting only two minutes after its conclusion.
“Either he writes at the speed of light, or the message was prepared in advance, unrelated to the review presented to him,” the Likud party wrote.
Netanyahu’s office claimed that the meeting had included detailed warnings on possible attacks on various fronts against Israel.
Netanyahu issues warning during visit to Tel Nof airbase
Netanyahu warned that Israel’s enemies may try to attack before next month’s elections during a visit to Tel Nof airbase.
“There are signs that leading up to the elections, our enemies will try to attack us,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister did not specify which enemies he was referring to.
After his remarks, several Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post that there is currently no concrete threat to Israel, though they cautioned that the situation could change at any moment.
“We are on high alert and closely monitoring Iran’s actions. The escalation in the West Bank could also quickly turn into something much broader. But there is currently no specific intelligence warning on the table,” one official told the Post.
A second Israeli official said Tehran could decide at any moment to launch missiles at Israel. For now, however, the official stressed that this remains an “option” rather than an “immediate threat.”
