Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Wednesday that the Trump administration's current approach toward Iran showed "weakness" and called the firing of National Security Adviser John Bolton a "victory" for Tehran.
In an interview with i24NEWS The Daily Dose with Jeff Smith, the Blue and White candidate expressed concerns over how the White House has handled Iran and its seemingly opaque diplomatic process.
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"Looking to what has happened over the last couple of months, on one hand [US President Donald] Trump was very tough, imposing crippling sanctions, [making] very important declarations, but then ignoring the fact that the Iranians intercepted an American UAV – it was a signal of weakness," he said referring to Trump's decision to cancel retaliatory strikes last minute after Iran downed a US drone.
"We understand that Trump doesn't want to go all the way to confront [Iran], he's now on the way to engaging them – that's why he fired John Bolton." he said.
"That's bad news for, I believe, Israel" and American policy, he added.
The former military chief was also quick to dismiss charges made by Netanyahu that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei wanted Blue and White to win in the September election.
The attack, Ya'alon continued, was a "manipulation" relying on "false propaganda" that distracted from policy and Iran's role as a major destabilizing force in the region.
"[Iran] should be at the top when we deal with our threats in the Middle East," Ya'alon quipped. " Having said that, the way to deal with it by blaming the Blue and White [party] is not the right way."
Ya'alon was first asked to comment on recent criticism against Netanyahu for hastily leaving a campaign event in Ashdod on Tuesday evening after Gaza rockets were launched toward the port city.
"I believe the bodyguards of Benjamin Netanyahu made a decision to lead him to the shelter, which is right in order to save his life," Ya'alon said, "but the problem isn't this specific event."
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
