Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu are poised to meet Monday for a security briefing on Iran, but appear to be quarrelling over details of the meeting.
With Western powers expected to sign a deal with Iran in the coming weeks restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement, Lapid scheduled a meeting with his long-time rival Sunday.
The two leaders are slated to meet in the Prime Minister’s Office at 5:00 p.m. Monday for a security briefing on the nuclear talks in Vienna, and on Iran’s nuclear program. It is the second such meeting between the two leaders in the past month.
Ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu’s office requested that the meeting not be filmed or photographed, Channel 12 reported.
While the Prime Minister’s Office initially agreed, Lapid later backtracked, informing the Opposition Leader that the meeting would be photographed after all.
Netanyahu balked at Lapid’s about-face, insisting that photographers not be allowed into the meeting, accusing the Prime Minister of attempting to turn the security briefing into an election campaign opportunity.
The Prime Minister’s Office denied the claim, saying instead that the meeting should be photographed to project an image of Israeli unity, showing the Premier and Opposition Leader coming together on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
The two leaders sparred Sunday over the emerging deal with Iran, trade blame for the talks in Vienna.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Lapid blamed Netanyahu for the deal, singling out his 2015 address to Congress on the eve of the original agreement.
“To this day, we are paying for the damage caused by Netanyahu’s address to Congress. As a result of it, the American government ended its dialogue with us and barred Israel from presenting changes to the deal.”
Netanyahu responded in a video statement, accusing Lapid and Defense Minister Gantz of neglecting Iran’s nuclear aspirations and efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Unfortunately, this past year, Lapid and Gantz have totally neglected the public struggle against the Iran nuclear deal.”
“For 12 years, I fought hard against this deal, and even got the US to drop out of the deal, but during their one year in power, Lapid and Gantz fell asleep at the wheel and enabled the US and Iran to reach a nuclear deal which endangers our future.”
“They simply did nothing to pressure the American government to not sign this deal. Unlike us, they didn’t go to Congress, they didn’t go the UN, they did not wage a wide PR campaign in the world media.”