Israeli former national security officials and business leaders blast Netanyahu ahead of his speech to Congress
CNN
A group of senior Israeli figures including former national security officials, academics and business leaders have sent US congressional leadership a blistering letter accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is set to speak to Congress on Wednesday, of threatening both Israeli and American national security.
A group of senior Israeli figures including former national security officials, academics and business leaders have sent US congressional leadership a blistering letter accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is set to speak to Congress on Wednesday, of threatening both Israeli and American national security. The letter calls Netanyahu an “existential threat” and paints him as selfishly concerned with his political survival and singularly to blame for failing to defeat Hamas in the current war in Gaza. It also highlights Netanyahu’s ongoing legal troubles, including the fact he’s been being charged with bribery and fraud. Among the more than 30 signatories are five former senior officials from the Mossad intelligence service, including retired director Tamir Pardo, two former heads of the Israeli military and a wide-ranging list of other former military, security, diplomatic, legal and business officials. Nobel laureate for Chemistry Aaron Ciechanover is among them, as are two former presidents of Ben Gurion University, Avishay Braverman and Rivka Carmi. Billionaire entrepreneur Morris Kahn joins former pharmaceutical CEO Jeremy Levin among the business leaders. “For decades, [Netanyahu] has been inciting Israelis against each other, damaging our national social fabric, dramatically harming our defense capabilities, eroding our economy and devastating our international standing,” the letter reads. “Netanyahu severely harms the US national security interests through his approach to this war, which adversely impacts American policy in the Middle East and beyond and further endangers Israel,” it continues.
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