Netanyahu has lost his wits over Iran: Mofaz

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and leader of the Kadima party Shaul Mofaz (file photo)

The leader of the Israeli opposition party Kadima has blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his war rhetoric against Iran, saying the hawkish premier has “lost his wits”.

Netanyahu seemed “confused, stressed out and unfocused” over the issue of Iran, Mofaz added.
“The prime minister has lost the faith of the security chiefs, United States President [Barack] Obama, and [Israeli] President Shimon Peres,” said Mofaz. “This is a bankrupt leadership.”
He added that there is a direct relation between Tel Aviv’s bellicose rhetoric against Iran and the economic woes in Israel.
“You cannot put the country into the frenzy of war,” he said. “There is a direct correlation between the talk of war, the economic situation, and people’s despair.”
Recently, thousands of Israelis have held demonstrations in Tel Aviv, protesting against social inequality and the government’s austerity measures.
Israeli demonstrators, furious and concerned about a potential Israeli attack on Iran, have also been protesting against the warmongering policies of the Israeli regime in the recent months.

Mofaz also supported the remarks made earlier Sunday morning by former Israeli Supreme Court justice Eliyahu Winograd, who described the talk by Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak about an aggression on Iran as “extremely irresponsible.”
According to Mofaz, Winograd “joins a long list of people” who have expressed strong opposition to a possible Israeli strike against the Islamic Republic.
“Winograd’s primary arguments against an early strike have also been voiced by every head of the defense establishment, the president of the United States, and an ongoing stream of highly placed administration visitors” to Israel, Mofaz said.
The US, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program with Tel Aviv repeatedly threatening Tehran with a military strike.

Iran refutes the allegations and maintains that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Iranian officials have also promised a crushing response to any military strike against the country.