Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the US Congress as “disgraceful”.
Lapid criticized Netanyahu, particularly for not taking any responsibility for his failure regarding the October 7 events and for failing to accept a deal with Hamas that would retrieve the Israeli captives held by the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza.
“Disgraceful! An hour of talking without saying a single sentence: ‘There will be a hostage deal,'” he posted on his account on the X platform.
In a separate post, the opposition figure said, “We heard Netanyahu speak about October 7 as if he has no idea who was the Prime Minister and who was responsible for the disaster.”
Lapid pointed out that, during his speech before Congress, Netanyahu had the opportunity to announce that he accepts a deal that would bring back the captives in Gaza “before they all die in the tunnels.”
“He did not do that,” Lapid added.
Netanyahu pleaded with the US on Wednesday during his speech at Congress to fast-track military aid to “Israel” to end the war in Gaza.
He claimed that he was actively working to free the captives in Gaza, expressing optimism that such efforts would be successful, completely turning a blind eye to the fact that he had obstructed all attempts to reach a deal since before the talks started.
The Israeli premier voiced confidence in the ongoing efforts to secure the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza with Noa Argamani, one of the released captives, present at the event.
According to CNN, Congress police arrested at least five protesters at the US Capitol during Netanyahu’s speech, while an Israeli media platform reported that some family members of Israeli captives held in Gaza, wearing shirts calling for an immediate prisoner exchange deal, were detained at Congress entrance.
Source: almayadeen
