On Sunday evening, in an effort to save his coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu addressed the Israeli public during a nine minute televised speech at the IDF Headquarters in Tel Aviv.
After recapping his own history as a member of the IDF elite unit Sayeret Matkal, the death of his brother Yoni who died in 1976 during the famous Entebbe raid in Uganda, and his injuries during several battles, Netanyahu said he had endangered his life time after time and as Prime Minister gave the orders for “countless actions” to ensure the security of the State of Israel.
He then said Israel was in “one of the most complex situations” in its history and claimed in this situation there was “no room for politics” while he went on to mention the multiple times he had to take “very difficult decisions” to ensure the safety of Israel’s citizens.
As the new Israeli Defense Minister - Netanyahu refused to give in to the demands of Bayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett to appoint him as the new DM - he acknowledged there had been severe criticism on the way he had handled the mini-war with Hamas a week ago.
There was, however, no way ordinary citizens or even politicians could judge the complex security situation in Israel at this time, Netanyahu explained.
He said only the top IDF echelons and the intelligence services in Israel and he as the Prime Minister had a full view of Israel’s security situation and that the public only saw “a partial picture” while he and the security services were in the “midst of wide operations” which were meant to restore full security to the Israeli public.
It was the second time in one week the Israeli PM made remarks about the complexity of Israel’s security situation and the inability of citizens including politicians to see the overall picture of the country’s security situation.
Last week Netanyahu said that as leader of Israel he sometimes had “to hide crucial considerations that must be concealed from the enemy” and hinted that there were plans for an operation in the future.
"I cannot elaborate on our plans for the future but we will determine the right conditions and the right times for the State of Israel, those which are optimal for the security of our citizens,” the embattled PM told participants in a state memorial service commemorating the 45th anniversary of the passing away of former Israeli PM David Ben Gurion. READ MORE
