Ex-IDF Spokesperson Attacks Netanyahu, Denies Being Leftist

Former IDF Spokesperson Avi Benayahu launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of upcoming elections, accusing him of using a "worn-out toolbox" of fear-mongering and existential threats. Benayahu urged Gabi Ashkenazi and his allies to respond decisively to Netanyahu's alleged "spin" regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state, a government with Abbas, or the appointment of Yair Golan as Internal Security Minister.

He called for a unified and clear response: "We will do everything, including everything within the law, to remove this bad government from its place. Everything."

The "Torat Lechima" organization criticized Benayahu, drawing a parallel between his statements and those of Rabbi Druckman, who had previously called for preventing the government's formation. The organization pointed out the perceived double standard, noting that while Druckman's remarks were questioned as incitement, Benayahu's similar call went unchallenged. They asserted that "one must never accept moralizing lectures from the left."

Benayahu responded to the accusations of being leftist by stating, "I am not left. I am a "baby captured" (a term for someone indoctrinated by a different ideology)." He described himself as the son of immigrants from Syria who grew up in southern Tel Aviv, was sent to a kibbutz in his youth, underwent "brainwashing," and was later "implanted" by the kibbutz movement, Mapam, and their Soviet patrons, along with the Wexner Foundation, to command Galatz radio. He claimed this path was facilitated by then-Defense Minister Fuad Ben-Eliezer and then-IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon, whom he also characterized as "babies captured."