Eizenkot: I Don’t Recall Netanyahu Ever Correcting My Perfect English, It’s Racist

"It is racist and I despise them. I have had dozens of meetings in English with Netanyahu. I do not remember him ever correcting my present perfect," said Yisrael! party chairman Gadi Eizenkot in an interview with "120 Ve’ahat," ynet’s political podcast, about a post circulated online in an attempt to ridicule him over his command of English. The full interview will be published tomorrow.

Eizenkot: "I despise that criminal who harmed state security"

In the interview, Eizenkot referred to the fact that the post was circulated by the prime minister’s adviser, Jonathan Urich, and said: "I despise that criminal, that person who harmed state security. He should be holed up in some bunker. He is a despicable person. In my view, a person like that does not belong in Israeli public life. What does that say about Netanyahu, what does it say about Likud, that such a despicable person is the one everyone there fears and who is leading them around by the nose?"

Eizenkot continued: "And I ask myself, where was Netanyahu’s excellent English on October 7? Did it help us with anything? It did not help at all. Where was his excellent English in strengthening Israel-U.S. relations, which this morning are at rock bottom?"

The former IDF chief of staff added: "I have never boasted about excellent English. But I know how to speak, read and write, and I have managed in many meetings. And as for the matter itself, it seems to me like the activity of the weak. They are frightened. I can see their panic through the channels. On Channel 14, I am covered in every slot except the weather. I assume that will happen in the coming days, and I will be blamed for the June-July heat wave. If they knew me, they would know that this makes me even more stubborn. It makes me more determined, so they can continue."