Speaking at a meeting of the Likud faction at the Knesset, Netanyahu said Foreign Minister Yair Lapid agreed to the request from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when they spoke on Thursday night. He said both US President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had issued the same request to him when he was in office, and he rejected it.
“This is an incredible Israeli commitment that harms the heart of our national security,” Netanyahu said. “If Begin would have agreed to a policy of ‘no surprises,’ we would not have destroyed the nuclear reactor in Iraq. For 15 years as the prime minister of Israel, I was asked by our American friends to make this commitment many times and I always refused. Sometimes I updated them ahead of the operations we intended to carry out, and many times I did not update them. But I never, ever, agreed to tell them about all our operations, because it would invite pressure not to carry them out or leaks to the press that would prevent the operation and take away our freedom to act against Iran on existential matters.”
Netanyahu said his response was that he would take their requests into consideration, but on issues connected to Israel’s existence it must maintain the complete freedom to take action without the need to report in advance.
“I cannot think of a weaker and more emasculated message to our enemies in Iran,” he said. “I cannot think of a better gift for the Executioner from Tehran. From now on, he and his friends in the regime know that they can sleep silently, with no surprises.”
But Netanyahu’s critics responded that the policy of not surprising the US has been intact before, during and after Netanyahu’s term in office, but never applied to secret military and intelligence operations and still would not.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz responded to Netanyahu by saying that what is truly dangerous for Israel is that he continues leaking the contents of his conversations with the president of the United States. He said that as defense minister, he would make sure that “Israel maintains its right to defend itself against any threat and in any place.”
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Lapid responded that Netanyahu’s accusations were inaccurate, adding sarcastically that he “appreciates the advice of the opposition leader,” but he is no longer in charge.
Read More: Netanyahu: Yair Lapid agreeing with US puts Israel in danger from Iran