Netanyahu claims indications of attack plot by ‘enemies’ ahead of election; Lapid to be briefed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Tuesday there are concerns that “enemies” of Israel may attempt to attack it ahead of the October 27 election, prompting demands from opposition leaders to provide them details on the ostensible threat to ensure it was not an attempt by Netanyahu to undermine the election.

“We have indications that, ahead of the elections, our enemies will try to attack us,” Netanyahu said in a video filmed during a visit to the Tel Nof air base.

“So from here, from the Air Force base, from the long arm of Israel, I am sending you a message: Don’t mess with us — not now, and not ever,” he said in Hebrew. “Our long arm will reach you anywhere and at any time.”

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Immediately after the prime minister posted the video, top election contender Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party demanded that Netanyahu update Opposition Leader Yair Lapid of any new security threats.

“If Netanyahu’s statements regarding the security threats are correct, this requires an immediate update to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid,” the party said on X, adding that such a meeting is needed “to ensure that it is indeed a genuine threat and not a political maneuver intended to harm the election.”

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Lapid quickly issued a statement of his own, saying he had requested an emergency security update from Netanyahu.

“I request to understand if the threats are real, and if so, how the prime minister is preparing to ensure the election will take place without disruptions,” Lapid wrote on X.

Joining in, Democrats party chairman Yair Golan said that “the people of Israel cannot rely on Netanyahu when he claims that his motives are not political.”

“If there are security threats, he should reveal them to the opposition leader and give an account to the public,” Golan posted on X. “Netanyahu knows that he is about to lose. He is afraid. It is forbidden to let him use Israel’s security to disrupt the elections.”

After Lapid made his demand, the Prime Minister’s Office initially said that Netanyahu’s military secretary would provide Lapid with the security update, and said that the premier “regularly holds security briefing meetings with Opposition Leader Lapid, and the most recent one between them took place two weeks ago on September 14.”

Not satisfied, Lapid said on X: “The moment the prime minister of a democratic country publicly states that there is a threat that could disrupt the election, all involved parties must receive a full update if there is a problem and what steps are being taken to ensure the process proceeds in full.

“Therefore, I demand that Netanyahu promptly hold a four-way discussion involving him and me, together with the Shin Bet head and the Central Elections Committee chairman,” Lapid said.

Recent polling indicates a deadlock between the pro- and anti- Netanyahu blocs, a recent Times of Israel survey projecting that each bloc would be tied at 53 seats each, if elections were held today. That would leave both blocs short of a government if they fail to rely on defectors or on Arab support

Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party is consistently leading in polls, at around 23 seats, with Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad and Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu far behind with 12 and 10 seats, respectively.

Netanyahu’s Likud was the second-largest party in the poll, with 21 seats. Behind Likud in Netanyahu’s bloc, the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox Shas with 10 seats; its Ashkenazic counterpart United Torah Judaism with eight seats; National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s extremist Otzma Yehudit with six seats; and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism with four seats.

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