Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed the temporary ceasefire reached in the joint U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on Tuesday, criticizing the deal as a “political disaster.”
“Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made concerning the core of our national security,” Lapid wrote overnight in a translated post on the social platform X.
He praised the military’s execution and the public’s “amazing resilience” throughout the conflict but argued that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “failed politically, failed strategically, and didn’t meet a single one of the goals that he himself set.”
“It will take us years to repair the political and strategic damage that Netanyahu wrought due to arrogance, negligence, and a lack of strategic planning,” Lapid warned.
The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday evening, just hours before the deadline set by President Trump — who threatened to destroy Iran’s “whole civilization” if the U.S.’s demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz were not met.
“The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump announced in a Truth Social post, adding that Iran has proposed a “workable” 10-point plan to bring the five-week conflict to an end.”
“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” he wrote.
Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that Israel supported the U.S. decision to suspend strikes against Tehran on the condition that Iran immediately opened the strait and halted attacks within the region.
“Israel also supports the US effort to ensure that Iran no longer poses a nuclear, missile and terror threat to America, Israel, Iran’s Arab neighbors and the world,” it said in a statement. “The United States has told Israel that it is committed to achieving these goals, shared by the US, Israel and Israel’s regional allies, in the upcoming negotiations.”
Lebanon was excluded from the ceasefire, the prime minister’s office said, contradicting statements from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped mediate, that the agreement included the country.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that more than 1,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon in their war with Hezbollah, citing the Lebanese health ministry.
U.S. and Iranian officials are set to meet in Islamabad on Friday for further negotiations.
