Following a Hezbollah attack on northern Israel on Sunday, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz announced that he ordered a suspension of Blue and White’s election campaign. “There is no opposition or coalition regarding action against anyone who tries to harm Israeli citizens or Israeli sovereignty,” Gantz said on Sunday. “In light of the security situation, I ordered that our election campaign be suspended at this time.”

“The government of Lebanon needs to know that it will bear responsibility for every terror act which is carried out from its territory,” Gantz warned. “We know that the IDF and Israeli security forces are prepared for every challenge and we don’t recommend that anyone try to test us.”

Gantz’s fellow Blue and White leader, MK Yair Lapid, reacted to the tense situation in northern Israel a bit differently than Gantz. In his usual manner of playing the “blame game” Lapid didn’t hesitate to take advantage of Hezbollah’s missile barrage for his own political purposes. “The children in the north are in shelters for only one reason – because Bibi breached the successful policy of ambiguity due to the elections. This is what happens when the prime minister plays politics at the expense of security.”

The Likud party released a statement responding to Lapid’s attack: “Yair Lapid…attacked the prime minister in the very moments that he was managing a complex security incident in the north – with responsibility and determination. Lapid made a grave error by choosing to engage in petty politics at the expense of IDF soldiers as they fight Hezbollah.”

“At the same moment that Lapid tweeted his lies, [Benny] Gantz announced that he is suspending his election campaign,” the Likud statement continued. “As usual, there’s a lack of coordination between Lapid and Gantz. It’s forbidden to allow a dangerous and irresponsible person like Yair Lapid to be prime minister.”

Yamina leader and former Education Minister Naftali Bennett responded to Lapid’s words on Sunday night by saying: “No, Mr. Lapid. Sometimes it’s appropriate to simply support the government during an operation. The children in the north are in shelters because Nasrallah opened fire on IDF soldiers. This happened on the background of a correct decision by the Israeli government to prevent Hezbollah from upgrading its rocket system—enabling them to strike Israeli homes from a meter’s distance—including [the homes of] Israeli children.”

“Security was neglected here from 2000 – 2013, allowing Hezbollah to arm itself with 140,000! rockets. Now, b’shaa tova, action is being taken. It involves risk. Show support but at the very least don’t attack.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)