National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party have responded sharply to opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot's pledge that Hamas will no longer be in power within 18 months of his entering the Prime Minister's Office.
"Gadi Eisenkot is sure the Jewish public is stupid," the party said in a statement. The statement then detailed what it described as Eisenkot's positions during his time in the war cabinet: "When Eisenkot was in the cabinet, he demanded we stop the war entirely, surrender to all of Hamas's demands, withdraw completely from Gaza, release all terrorists from all Israeli prisons, strongly opposed the conquest of Rafah and entry into the Philadelphi Corridor, and of course opposed the conquest of the security zone in Lebanon."
According to Otzma Yehudit, Eisenkot blocked Israel's path to victory, in contrast to their own role: "All the achievements in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Iran came only after Eisenkot left the government and I entered the narrow war cabinet in his place."
The statement concluded with criticism of what it characterized as the opposition's willingness to lie in cooperation with Arab parties: "Now, when he is a candidate on behalf of Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas, he promises you he will conquer Gaza. There is no limit to the lies of the Arab and left-wing camp led by Eisenkot."
