Opposite Leader Lapid: Netanyahu Dangers Israel's Security

Yair Lapid. (Wikimedia Commons/Spokesperson unit of the President of Israel/Haim Zach)

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is endangering Israel, opposition leader Yair Lapid said, responding to the issue of purchasing submarines and missile ships handled by the state investigation commission.

"Netanyahu is endangering Israel's security. Likewise with the submarine case, as well as the Mount Meron disaster, as well as all actions that led to and led to the October 7 massacre," the former Israeli PM said, quoted from The Times of Israel June 25.

Yesterday, the commission investigating the so-called submarine case announced it sent warning notifications to five people believed to have been harmed by its investigations, including Netanyahu.

The commission of investigation, formed under then prime minister Naftali Bennett in 2022, said Netanyahu had "created channels of parallel and contradictory action, thereby endangering national security and damaging Israeli foreign relations."

The panel notified PM Netanyahu, based on the evidence collected so far, it is certain that he used his post as prime minister between 2009 and 2016 to approve the purchase without proper legal proceedings.

"By doing so, he (PM Netanyahu) endangers state security and harms foreign relations and the economic interests of the country of Israel," the panel said in a written decision published on Monday.

PM Netanyahu responded by saying the submarine was critical to Israel's security "in ensuring its existence against Iran, which is trying to destroy us".

"History will prove Prime Minister Netanyahu is also right on this issue and make the right decision for Israel's security," a statement from his office said.

In addition to PM Netanyahu, the panel also issued a warning letter against former naval commander Admiral Ram Rothberg, former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and former National Security Council employee Avner Simchoni in the same case.

Earlier this year, the commission of investigations by different countries appointed a prime minister among officials personally responsible for the 2021 Meron disaster, in which 45 Israelis were trampled to death during a pilgrimage at the grave of a respected palace in the second century.