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Israeli Opposition chief backs Netanyahu’s decision to strike Iran, calls for unity

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“Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one,” wrote Yair Lapid.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israel’s Opposition Leader made a rare show of support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend, endorsing his decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and calling for national unity in the face of ongoing ballistic missile attacks.

On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post published an English-language opinion piece penned by MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), a long-time rival of Netanyahu who served briefly as prime minister in 2022 before Netanyahu’s return to power later that year.

In the piece, Lapid acknowledged his differences with Netanyahu, but emphasized that Israel must unite during the ongoing military confrontation with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Lapid praised Netanyahu’s decision to launch Operation Rising Lion last Friday, with attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, targeted killings of nuclear scientists, and attacks on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

“Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one,” Lapid wrote.

“The whole country is united in this moment, when faced with an enemy sworn to our destruction, nothing will divide us.”

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He defended Israel’s war with Iran, arguing that Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, use of proxy forces such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in attacks against Israel, and Iran’s calls to destroy Israel left the Jewish state with “no choice.”

“We went to war for the only reason that justifies war – we had no choice. A nuclear Iran would have been an existential threat to the State of Israel. Iran cannot be a nuclear state. Not now. Not ever.”Lapid, who once served as Finance Minister under Netanyahu, became an increasingly vocal critic of the prime minister after bolting the government in 2014, positioning his Yesh Atid faction as an alternative to the ruling Likud party.Following Netanyahu’s return to power in December 2022, Lapid joined the protest movement against the government’s efforts to reform the Israeli judiciary, accusing Netanyahu of threatening the country’s democratic system.

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