Do Netanyahu’s Domestic Opponents Offer a Real Alternative?
Key takeaways
- The terms of the M.O.U., coming after Iran was able to close the Strait of Hormuz and harm the global economy, are very favorable to the Iranian regime, and have caused angst among hawks in Washington.
- I recently spoke by phone with Moshe Tur-Paz, a member of the Israeli Knesset from the Yesh Atid Party, the centrist grouping that is part of the alliance challenging Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.
- How are people in Israel who consider themselves opponents of Netanyahu responding to the deal between the United States and Iran?
The terms of the M.O.U., coming after Iran was able to close the Strait of Hormuz and harm the global economy, are very favorable to the Iranian regime, and have caused angst among hawks in Washington. But the backlash has been strongest in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been planning a fall reëlection campaign staked on his closeness to President Trump, and where an aggressive foreign policy toward Iran and Lebanon is popular across the Israeli political spectrum.
I recently spoke by phone with Moshe Tur-Paz, a member of the Israeli Knesset from the Yesh Atid Party, the centrist grouping that is part of the alliance challenging Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections. Netanyahu’s opponents, even though they are overwhelmingly to his left, have largely attacked him from the right for not defeating the Iranian regime, or Hezbollah, and for allowing himself to be pushed around by Trump. During my conversation with Tur-Paz, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed whether the Israeli opposition’s Iran policies differ from Netanyahu’s, whether the war in Iran should ever have been started, and the ability of the opposition to rebuild Israel’s reputation abroad if it refuses to compromise with the Palestinians.
How are people in Israel who consider themselves opponents of Netanyahu responding to the deal between the United States and Iran?