In a Sunday op-ed published by the Jerusalem Post, MK Yair Lapid, leader of the opposition, offered a firm endorsement of Israel’s recent military response against Iran, arguing that it was both warranted and essential.
Lapid issued a stark warning about Iran’s intentions, stating that the regime “could advance its nuclear program and work to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons,” while continuing to “fund and support terror organizations that do everything they can to murder Jews in Israel and abroad.” He further cautioned that Iran “could target Israelis abroad, including mass casualty terror attacks,” and attempt to “normalize … the idea that it is legitimate to attempt to destroy Israel and wipe out the Jewish people.”
He stressed that the Iranian threat is far from theoretical, noting that “Iran stands behind Hamas and Hezbollah, behind the massacre on October 7, and behind the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and further attacks from Bulgaria to Mumbai, from Kenya to Thailand.” Lapid pointed out that the regime has made its intentions abundantly clear: it has “repeatedly said, without hesitation and without shame, that its ultimate goal is the destruction of the State of Israel.”
Drawing a sharp distinction between the two nations, Lapid said: “And to avoid any doubt, Israel isn’t interested in destroying Iran. We have no historical or territorial conflict with the Iranian people. We have no demands of one another except for one: The Iranian regime wants us to die, and we refuse.”
While often critical of Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu, Lapid stood behind the decision to strike Iran and the urgency behind it. “The whole country is united in this moment, when faced with an enemy sworn to our destruction, nothing will divide us,” he wrote. He ended with a firm message on the stakes: “We went to war for the only reason that justifies war – we had no choice. A nuclear Iran would have been an existential threat to the State of Israel. Iran cannot be a nuclear state. Not now. Not ever.”
{Matzav.com}