Israeli Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday strongly criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the United States and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement, claiming that Israel was excluded from key discussions. He stated that while the Israeli military fulfilled all its responsibilities and the public showed remarkable resilience, Netanyahu failed on political and strategic fronts.

In a post on X, Lapid described the situation as an unprecedented “political disaster,” arguing that Israel was not involved in decisions affecting its core national security. He added that Netanyahu failed to achieve any of his stated objectives and said the consequences of what he called arrogance, negligence, and poor strategic planning would take years to fix.

Israel expressed support for the US decision to pause strikes against Iran for two weeks, provided Iran immediately reopens critical waterways and halts attacks on the US, Israel, and other countries in the region. A statement from Netanyahu’s office also reaffirmed support for US efforts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear, missile, and terrorism-related threats.

Despite backing the ceasefire, Israel confirmed it would continue its military operations in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran. The statement also noted that the United States remains committed to achieving shared security goals through upcoming negotiations and clarified that the temporary ceasefire does not apply to Lebanon.