[Ehud Olmert (R) and Benjamin Netanyahu in a file photo.] Tel Aviv: In a strong condemnation of the far right Zionist regime in Israel, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Benjamin Netanyahu a “national disaster” and his cabinet colleagues “butchers, killers and terrorists”.
“Let it be clear. Netanyahu is a national historical disaster for Israel”, Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview with the TRT World.
“He has to go”, he said demanding Netanyahu’s resignation.
Describing Ben Gvir, Smotrich and the Hilltop Youth in the occupied West Bank, a “terrible event”, Ehud Olmert called them enemies, butchers, killers, murderers and terrorists.
Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Yoel Smotrich both are far right Israeli politicians. The former is Minister of National Security whereas the latter is Minister of Finance in the Netanyahu cabinet since 2022.
Widely known as radical Jewish settler gangs, Hilltop Youth are hardline, extremist and religious-nationalist youth responsible for establishing illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank without Israeli legal basis.
“What I think about Ben Gvir and his friends, I spelled out in Israel, in front of them and in the most extreme manner”, Ehud Olmert told the Turkish broadcaster.
Ehud Olmert was Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and also served as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006 when he also served as Mayor of the Occupied Jerusalem.
As Prime Minister, Olmert agreed that Israel would share Jerusalem as the joint capital of Israel and a Palestinian state and hand over its holy sites to a multinational committee, land swaps that would allow Israel to keep its major settlement blocs in the West Bank, the construction of a tunnel connecting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Talking with the Turkish broadcaster, Olmert also criticized the Netanyahu government’s policy and called it “negative” and “meaningless”.
“Since 2009, the Israeli policy was absolutely negative and is not really prepared to embark on a meaningful process that was essential”, he said.
“They have not followed the policy that I’ve outlined and which carried a real chance for peace”, he said.
Calling Netanyahu “dangerous for Israel” he said he must be thrown out.
“He (Netanyahu) is danger to Israel and he should be immediately fired and thrown out. And this is because of many reasons that have nothing to do with Palestinians”, he said.
This is not the first time Ehud Olmert has criticized Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s policies. Speaking with POLITICO, Olmert argued Netanyahu was in a state of “nervous breakdown,” as he sought to avoid being thrown out of office for failing to safeguard national security in the murderous Hamas attacks of October 7.
“[Netanyahu] has shrunk. He’s destroyed emotionally, that’s for sure. I mean, something terrible happened to him. Bibi has been working all his life on the false pretense that he is Mr. Security. He’s Mr. Bullshit,” he said.
“Every minute he is prime minister he is a danger to Israel. I seriously mean it. I am certain the Americans understand he is in bad shape”, he added.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
