Yitzhak Herzog, Tzipi Livni
Yitzhak Herzog, Tzipi LivniFlash 90

Leftist parties issued a response on Monday evening to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s remarks against the left in a campaign rally.

In his remarks, Netanyahu criticized the left for their mistakes "time and time again" and offered a pledge not to make any territorial concessions to the Palestinians that would harm Israel's security.

Turning his attention to Labor chairman Yitzhak Herzog and Hatnua chairwoman Tzipi Livni, who are running together on a joint list, Netanyahu sarcastically asked, "They'll maintain the security of Israel? They'll face Hamas? Hezbollah? Iran?"

"They will not be able to stand the pressure and there is a lot of international pressure. They will not be able to stand it for a moment. They will surrender immediately, not only because they're weak, but because they want to surrender, withdraw and give up," he warned.

Responding to the comments, the election headquarters of Livni and Herzog said, “Israel's problem is not governance but rather the governor.”

"Once again we heard Netanyahu, who was weak against Hamas and conducted negotiations with it, with the same worn out slogans that have brought Israel to greater diplomatic isolation, intolerable social gaps and abject poverty," they said, adding that Netanyahu’s new bill that would make it harder to break apart the government mid-term “is a worthless answer to the problems of the citizens of Israel.”

"Herzog and Livni will lead Israel in a different direction, will maintain security and work together for solutions to the social problems that plague the citizens of Israel," added Livni and Herzog. "After we all watched Netanyahu’s speech, Israeli citizens can welcome the fact that we have left only another 70 days of his failed leadership.”

MK Shelly Yechimovich (Labor) said that “Netanyahu should have come out tonight with a short speech: ‘I failed, I’m stepping down.’”

“The public is not stupid and is tired of the used goods that Netanyahu is selling in each election. We do not believe intimidation and we do not buy the mudslinging. Every election he pulls the same threat: in 2006 it was Hamas, Iran in 2009, and now ISIS. What is common to all three of them? All of them are important security challenges, that Netanyahu and the Likud completely failed in dealing with,” she added.

Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon said that Netanyahu “failed in a unity government with Labor, in a government with Yesh Atid, in a government with the hareidim and in a government with Hatnua. If, heaven forbid, he is elected again, he will fail again.”

Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party accused Netanyahu of “spitting in the face of the Israeli public. Not one word on the cost of living, on the housing crisis in Israel and the obligation to care for the middle class and the disadvantaged in Israel."

“The reality to which Israeli citizens are exposed is that corruption starts from the top - with Netanyahu's demand for a private plane and Netanyahu's demand for financing the water in his home in Caesarea," added Yesh Atid, echoing Lapid’s speech on corruption from last week.