Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday criticized former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who admitted in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that he authorized attacks on Iranian soil while in office.
Speaking during a visit to the Ramat David Airbase, Gallant said, "The action of the Air Force in all sectors is very impressive, and it is appropriate that the roar of the jets drown out the unnecessary chatter and allow the IDF soldiers to carry out their mission quietly and safely."
Bennett, in his op-ed, mentioned that during his term as Prime Minister, Israel destroyed a UAV base on Iranian soil, thwarted an attempted Iranian terror attack on Israeli tourists in Turkey, and shortly afterwards "the commander of that very unit was assassinated in the center of Tehran."
Responding on Friday to the criticism that was levelled at him for revealing the operations in Iran, Bennett said, “For 30 years, Israel has fallen right into the trap of the Iranian octopus. Iran's strategy is smart and simple: To deploy terrorist arms that will surround Israel from all sides, spill the blood of our children, exhaust us, while Iran, the head of the octopus, pays almost no price."
"Let it be clear: Iran is waging an all-out war against Israel, in a one-sided capacity. Iran is hitting Israel from all directions. Furthermore, because Iran feels immune, it is advancing [its nuclear program], enriching [uranium] to 60%, and has now become a threshold state. As Prime Minister I acted to change this. To go for the head of the octopus. I convened the heads of the branches, the IDF, Mossad and the Shin Bet, and explained to them that I wanted to shift the focus to Iran itself, so it would begin to pay prices (not only in the nuclear context). That's what we did. This should be Israel's strategy," Bennett stated.
He criticized the conduct of the current government, saying, "The problem with Iran is not the publication of the moves we made against it that were already known in the past, but that Iran hits us through Hamas and Hezbollah and even the Houthis, and the governments in the last decade give speeches and talk but do not exact a painful price from the leaders of Iran. We need to harness the US and other allies for the ultimate goal:The cutting off of the head of the octopus and the overthrow of the Iranian regime."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)