Prime Minister Yair Lapid met with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu at his Jerusalem office on Monday for a security briefing regarding progress in talks between world powers and Iran on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
Lapid's office said ahead of the meeting that he will brief Netanyahu on the emerging agreement and Israel's political and military efforts to reshape the deal, as well as on other national security issues.
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Prime Minister Yair Lapid, right, and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: GPO)
"On matters of national security, there is no opposition or coalition in Israel. Israel is strong and will work united to protect its security interests against those who try to harm us," a statement read.
At the end of the 30-minute meeting, Lapid shared a joint photo of the two on Twitter despite protests from Netanyahu's office ahead of the meeting, claiming the premier was using the briefing as a photo-op for political means.
Lapid's office insisted on publishing a joint photo, maintaining it would send a "message of unity" to the world on the sensitive Iranian issue.
After leaving the meeting, Netanyahu said he was "even more concerned" about the potential upcoming signing of the nuclear deal.
"After leaving the security briefing, I must, unfortunately, say that I walked out even more concerned," he said in a statement outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.
"We will support any strong public stance against the nuclear agreement. Unfortunately, I don't see such a public position, Lapid and [Defense Minister Benny] Gantz fell asleep on guard, the Biden administration rushes to what the head of the Mossad rightly calls a 'disaster', and they do nothing," Netanyahu added, referring to Mossad Director David Barnea who expressed his aversion to the looming agreement last week.
Lapid said in response he was not interested in arguing with Netanyahu on the issue, arguing it harms Israel's national security.
"I am not going to get into this squabble because it harms Israel's security. A united Israeli position against the Iranians' attempt to obtain nuclear weapons is of great importance," he said.
"I call on the head of the opposition and everyone else not to let political considerations harm our national security."
This is the second security briefing between the two since Lapid took office at the beginning of July.
Netanyahu and Lapid last met earlier this month at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv amid the recent flare-up with Gaza Strip terrorist factions.
The two have long harbored resentment of one another with Lapid launching frequent attacks during his time as leader of the opposition against Netanyahu and his government.
Last year, Lapid, with the help of Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, managed to unseat Netanyahu after a record 12 years in power, having masterminded a fragile governing alliance that consists of nationalist, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties and is held by little more than shared disdain for the conservative leader.
Lapid ultimately took over from Bennett as interim prime minister after the collapse of the government.
After the briefing was first announced, Netanyahu issued a statement Sunday evening in which he attacked Lapid and Gantz on what he deemed their lax handling of the Iranian issue.
"Over the past year, Lapid and Gantz have completely abandoned the public campaign against the Iran nuclear deal. For 12 years, we have fought this agreement resolutely and even got the United State to walk back on it," he said.
"In their single year in power, Lapid and Gantz fell asleep on the watch and allowed the U.S. and Iran to reach a nuclear agreement that jeopardizes our future. They've simply done nothing to press the American administration to not sign this agreement."
"Unlike us, they did not go to Congress, the UN and they didn't run a strong campaign in global media. After the U.S. had already concluded the main points of the agreement with Iran, only then did Lapid and Gantz remember to wake up. Too late, too little. Lapid and Gantz' incompetence will be remembered in history as the Iranian nuclear fiasco.
There is no better example of this incompetence, than the fact that Bennett, the 'minister of Iranian affairs' appointed by Lapid, is vacationing in Italy on the eve of the signing of the agreement, and in an area without reception. That's not how you fight an existential threat. That's not how you protect Israel."
Lapid issued a response shortly after in which he slammed his predecessor's conduct on the Iranian issue as more show than actions
"When Netanyahu was prime minister, everything he did on the Iranian issue was press conferences and presentations. The damage he caused during his tenure to Israel's two most important strategic issues — the fight against the Iran nuclear weapon and relations with the U.S. — is serious and deep and we are still repairing it," Lapid said.
"We work every day to strengthen Israel's policy and security capabilities, which have been neglected for many years. That is why I summoned the head of the opposition tomorrow for a security briefing to get updated on the details so that at least he will have an idea of what he is talking about with all the raucous he makes."
First published: 18:10, 08.29.22