Lapid: Netanyahu Sold Lies While Hamas Grew Stronger

Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded Wednesday to the defamation lawsuit filed by former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bar's suit, which seeks 3 million shekels in damages, claims he explicitly warned Netanyahu of a Hamas attack.

In his response, Lapid attacked Netanyahu over the misconception that led to October 7th and warned of security threats that remain today.

"Netanyahu can't say he didn't know anymore," Lapid said. "All the materials were on his desk. The only question is why he preferred to listen to Qatar's agents in his office instead of the IDF and the Shin Bet."

"That's exactly how the October 7th (mis)conception was built," he added. "While Netanyahu sold us lies about Hamas being deterred, Hamas grew stronger."

According to Lapid, "Right this moment there are 30,000 Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, exactly as there were on the eve of the massacre. Hamas is recovering, building attack tunnels with hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to it, including from Qatar, with the approval of Netanyahu and Ben Gvir's cabinet. As long as they sell us slogans about victory."

"Their attempt to market their resounding failure to us as absolute victory, endangers the security of every single one of us," Lapid concluded. "Whoever truly wants Israel to win again, must send them home. Together we will fix this."