Opposition Leader Accuses Netanyahu of Fabricating Iran Nuclear Claims to Scare Israeli Public

Two senior Israeli opposition leaders on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of falsely claiming Iran had nuclear weapons, saying he was trying to rewrite history and scare the Israeli public with the accusation.

According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, former Israeli military chief and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot said Netanyahu's recent statements about Iran's nuclear capabilities were wrong.

"Netanyahu said disgusting things. Iran has absolutely no nuclear bomb. He made up the truth to scare the Israeli public," said Eisenkot, who is also the head of the Yashar Party, as quoted at a conference in central Israel, reported by Anadolu (2/7).

The newspaper said Eisenkot was referring to comments Netanyahu made on Tuesday in an interview with Israel's Channel 14, in which the prime minister said: "I entered Iran twice to save us from destruction by the atomic bomb that was already in their hands."

Eisenkot, who served as Israel's military chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, announced on Tuesday his intention to run for prime minister.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads the Together political alliance, also denied Netanyahu's statement, calling it false.

"Yesterday it was said that Iran already has a nuclear bomb. That's a lie. It's an attempt to rewrite history," Bennett said at the same conference.

He also criticized Netanyahu's handling of Iran's nuclear program during his tenure.

"When I took office (2021-2022), I found something unimaginable - no plan," Bennett said. "I kept asking, and I never received an answer from Netanyahu at all. There is no plan."

Another opposition leader, Yair Lapid, also slammed the Netanyahu government, underlining that Israel's foreign relations had deteriorated to an unprecedented level under Netanyahu's leadership, blaming what he described as a combination of "amateurism, arrogance, and failure to read reality."

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Lapid said the decline could be reversed by the incoming government, arguing that "the problem is not the State of Israel, but the current government."

Lapid called for tougher action against what he described as "Jewish terrorism" in the occupied West Bank, saying two border police battalions and 200 police officers should be deployed there to curb settler violence.

He outlined what he considered to be the next government's tasks in the event of a change of power after the general election scheduled in the near future, saying: "Here is a list of tasks for the next government to be formed in the next few months."

He added that among these tasks is "dealing with Jewish terrorism in the West Bank quickly and decisively; it's not complicated."

"We will deploy two border police battalions and two hundred police officers there, and it will all end. Jewish terrorism is a moral failure and disgrace, and these extremists cause us great losses on a global scale," he added, referring to attacks by the Israeli occupation.

In February 2026, the US and Israel launched an attack targeting Iranian military installations and infrastructure, before the confrontation escalated into direct firefights.

Israel also carried out a large-scale military operation against targets inside Iran in June 2025, saying the operation targeted Tehran's nuclear program and missile capabilities.

The Mullah's state denies seeking nuclear weapons, insisting its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

There are no international reports confirming Iran has nuclear weapons.

The US and Israel accuse Iran of maintaining a nuclear and missile program that threatens Israel and US regional allies. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful and says it is not pursuing nuclear weapons.

Israel, which occupies Palestinian territories as well as land in Lebanon and Syria, is widely believed by international experts to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, although it has never officially admitted it. In addition, its nuclear facilities are not subject to the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).