Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin NetanyahuEmil Salman/Flash 90

The Likud party dismissed on Thursday evening the criticism of MKs Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni, who earlier claimed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is “weak against terror”.

"The public will have to decide who will maintain security - Livni and Herzog who want to give up, give in and concede land, or Netanyahu who will fight Hamas and ISIS and not give in to international pressure," said officials in the Likud.

After merging their parties on Wednesday, Herzog and Livni on Thursday launched their election campaign in the Gaza Belt region that was hard-hit by Hamas rockets over the summer, where they sharply criticized Netanyahu for his management of Operation Protective Edge.

"Operation Protective Edge achieved deterrence and security, but the test will be over the long-run," said Livni. "The prime minister wrote wonderful books about how to fight terror, but he is the one who in the end spoke with them and held negotiations," noting on the Cairo talks that led to numerous ceasefires before a final truce.

"Unfortunately Netanyahu doesn't distinguish between the military front and the political struggle and he is weak against terror," charged Livni.

Likud MK Gila Gamliel struck back at the comments of the two, saying, "The duo of Tzipi and Buji (Herzog) forgot that a few months again they backed the same Netanyahu in his struggle against terror. As all of the people of Israel saw yesterday, the hypocrisy and cynicism of the new duo continues to increase."

"History doesn't lie - only a large and strong national camp will stand as a wall against all the security threats standing against the state of Israel," added Gamliel.