Daijiworld Media Network - Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jun 3: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing mounting criticism at home after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel would halt plans to strike Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Beirut, a development that has intensified political pressure on the Israeli leader ahead of elections expected by October.
Trump said on Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to halt attacks on one another, just hours after Netanyahu reportedly ordered new strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. The move prompted a warning from Iran that Israel was jeopardising ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington.
The Lebanese government later announced a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, under which Israel would stop strikes on southern Beirut while Hezbollah would halt attacks on Israel.
The announcement triggered sharp reactions from Netanyahu’s political rivals, who accused him of surrendering Israel’s decision-making authority on national security matters to Washington.
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, a right-wing security hawk and one of Netanyahu’s main challengers, said the government had "lost control of Israeli sovereignty."
“The location is different, the story is the same,” Bennett wrote on social media, linking the development to what he described as broader failures in Israel’s security policy.
Centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid echoed the criticism, accusing Netanyahu of allowing the United States to dictate Israeli military policy. He described the situation as a “full protectorate,” suggesting Israel was behaving like an American client state.
Both Bennett and Lapid have advocated stronger military action against Hezbollah.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has continued despite a US-brokered ceasefire announced on Apr 16. The latest phase of the conflict began on Mar 2 when Hezbollah launched attacks into Israel in support of Iran.
Since then, Israel has expanded military operations in southern Lebanon, displacing more than one million people and reportedly killing over 3,400 individuals as it targets what it says are Hezbollah positions and infrastructure. Hezbollah has not released figures on its casualties.
The group has continued firing rockets and explosive drones at Israeli forces and communities in northern Israel. Israeli authorities say 26 soldiers and four civilians have been killed since the latest conflict began.
Netanyahu rejected criticism of Israel’s military operations, maintaining that Israeli strikes have significantly weakened Hezbollah. Following Trump’s announcement, he insisted that Israel’s policy remained unchanged.
“If Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon reportedly continued after Trump’s announcement.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel had refrained from striking Beirut at the request of the United States. However, he warned that any future Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel would result in strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a known Hezbollah stronghold.
Former Israeli military chief and prime ministerial candidate Gadi Eisenkot also criticised the US intervention, describing Trump’s demand that Israel halt attacks as unreasonable.
“There has never been an Israeli prime minister who accepted such a humiliating demand,” Eisenkot wrote on social media.
The controversy has highlighted growing debate within Israel over how closely military decisions should be coordinated with its closest ally, the United States.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Israel should simply tell Trump “no”.
Meanwhile, Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post criticised the situation in an editorial, saying Israel had found itself in the “humiliating position” of seeking American approval to defend its citizens and arguing that Washington was actively restraining decisive Israeli military action.