Israel's Katz blames opposition in advance for any attacks before election

Days before Israel's parliamentary election, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the opposition would be to blame for any future attacks on the country. Such attacks would be the fault of "Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Yair Golan, and their friends in the opposition," who "don't stop attacking the prime minister and me", Katz said, according to The Times of Israel. He said the military was "ready for any scenario." The remarks followed opposition criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's warnings that enemies might attempt an attack before the vote.

Opposition leader Lapid called the statement a "gift to Israel's enemies" on X and accused the government of turning the country's security into a "circus." Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and described by the newspaper as the election front-runner, called it "an unprecedented low," adding: "Our army is strong, but our leadership is rotten and dangerous." Security sources told several media outlets the military had not identified a specific threat.

The Shin Bet internal security agency said numerous social media profiles that were part of a "foreign influence campaign" had been removed ahead of the election. The State Attorney's Office cyber department and the Central Elections Committee took part. It was not disclosed which country was allegedly behind the campaign. The election is on Tuesday.