Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett admitted to ordering retaliatory strikes on Iran in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Thursday.
Bennett, who served as Israel’s Prime Minister from June 13, 2021, to June 30, 2022, published sensitive information despite allegedly not receiving approval from the Israel Defense Forces censor unit first, The Jerusalem Post reported. Public admissions by Israel about operations against Iran are rare, according to the Israeli news outlet.
“After Iran launched two failed UAV attacks on Israel in February 2022, Israel destroyed a UAV base on Iranian soil. In March 2022, Iran’s terror unit attempted to kill Israeli tourists in Turkey and failed. Shortly thereafter, the commander of that very unit was assassinated in the center of Tehran,” Bennett wrote in the Wall Street Journal about his time in office countering malign Iranian influence.
It was revealed that Naftali Bennett’s op-ed in The Wall Street Journal revealed sensitive military information without the approval of the IDF’s censor unit.https://t.co/0MCDS1Xv9Y
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) December 29, 2023
Bennett argued in the op-ed that Israel and the United States needed to take on Iran directly over its support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. (RELATED: Iran Claims Oct. 7 Terrorist Attacks Were Revenge For Soleimani’s Death)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant responded to Bennett’s admissions by saying “[t]he thunder of our fighter jets will deafen the needless chatter,” The Jerusalem Post said. “This is imperative … and will allow the IDF to safely carry out its missions,” Gallant added, according to the outlet.