Arabic version: لابيد ينتقد نتنياهو بسبب تحذيره من هجوم قبل الانتخابات

According to Al Jazeera, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “fear-mongering” after Netanyahu warned that Israel’s enemies could attack before next month’s general election.

Netanyahu said in an online video filmed in front of a fighter jet at a military base that there were “indications that, ahead of the elections, our enemies will try to attack us”. He did not identify a specific enemy, though he has recently warned Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority that Israel would retaliate for any attack.

Lapid, who leads the Yesh Atid party, sought an urgent security briefing with Netanyahu on Tuesday. Afterwards, he said he was certain the election would proceed on time and that “there is no reason to panic the public”. He also said no one had an excuse to disrupt the vote.

In his response, Lapid accused Netanyahu of using military bases as “props for election campaign videos”. He said Netanyahu had ignored warnings before the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and said security threats should be handled professionally and responsibly.

Israel’s election is scheduled for October 7 and will be its first since the Hamas-led attacks. Netanyahu said separately that he had briefed Lapid on possible attacks “on the various fronts ahead of the elections”, adding that he holds regular briefings with the opposition leader. Polling cited by Al Jazeera showed Netanyahu’s Likud party trailing Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party by two points.