Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the leaders of the recently merged Labor and Hatnuah parties in a speech he gave recently. Photo: Cherie Cullen.

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off the Likud party’s general elections campaign on Monday with a speech in Tel Aviv, slamming the leaders of the recently merged Labor and Hatnuah parties.

“Tzipi Livni and Buji (Isaac) Herzog will not withstand the pressure, and there is a lot of international pressure,” he said. “They will be the ones to protect the security of Israeli citizens? They will stand up to Hamas? Hezbollah? Iran? They will surrender immediately to diktats. Not just because they are weak, but also because they want to capitulate. They just want to withdraw and concede.”

“The Left promised a new Middle East,” added Netanyahu. “But we now have an Islamic State Middle East. I say with regret that the Left is disconnected from reality.”

The Labor-Hatnuah campaign responded in a statement that Netanyahu “was weak against Hamas and conducted negotiations with it.”