Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says Netanyahu is the real enemy – not Iran or Hezbollah
By Belle Carter
Posted on November 7, 2024
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently appeared in an interview, where he criticized current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called him the real enemy in the burgeoning multifaceted war Israel is waging against Middle Eastern nations.
In a post on X the independent news outlet Suppressed News share a video clip of Olmert’s interview, where he said that the true enemies of his country are the Israeli extremist groups, who think they can expel Palestinians and annex territories.
“Netanyahu’s coalition partners want to expel the residents of the West Bank so they can annex it. And so, what I am saying, and I say it all the time, and I know that some of my colleagues in Israel don’t like me saying it abroad, especially not on Christiane Amanpour’s show,” he said, pertaining to the show host.
He continued saying that the real enemy is not Iran, Hezbollah nor Hamas, which are actually “enemies.” However, he argued that the real enemy is within Israel.
“Messianic, crazy, extremist groups of Israelis who think they can expel Palestinians and annex territories,” he said. “I fight against them, I campaign against them and I believe it is the duty of the current Israeli government and Netanyahu.”
He added that unfortunately, the current Israeli leader depends on these groups politically to such an extent that he turns a blind eye and “allows them to do things that are completely unbearable and unacceptable.”
Several of his X followers weighed in on the issue and replied to his post.
One user with a handle @PromptKnight commented: “Olmert dropping this bombshell it’s like he’s saying hold up everyone we’ve been looking at this all wrong. He’s not pointing fingers at Iran or Hezbollah or Hamas but right at home at these ultra-right-wing groups in Israel even calling out his own gov and Netanyahu,” it said. “It’s like he’s telling us to take a hard look in the mirror instead of always looking over the fence for the bad guy. This isn’t just about politics; it’s about how extremism at home can mess things up just as bad or worse than any outside threat.”
Another one even said: “Jews are waking up against Zionism.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Olmert also opened up about the peace plan he and former Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa are promoting to end the war in Gaza.
Olmert served as prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and was also the Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.
Olmert: Netanyahu is dragging the U.S. into an escalation with Iran
The former Israeli leader, in an interview with Greek news outlet Kathimerini, said that he believes Netanyahu is trying to draw the U.S. into an open confrontation with Iran.
“Netanyahu believes that he was destined, by ‘divine providence,’ to lead the Western world against the force that challenges the fundamental values and principles of Western civilization. And he says this in the clearest terms,” Olmert said.
He added that he thinks that whenever Netanyahu looks at the Western leaders today, like U.S President Joe Biden, U.K. MP Rishi Sunak, U.K. Prime Minister Keri Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “he says to himself and perhaps to his inner circle: ‘Who are these guys? They are rookies and newcomers. What do they understand about world affairs and historical problems? I am Bibi Netanyahu, I was there long before they came, and they will be gone long before I am. So, it is my obligation to push the Western world.'”
Olmert openly admitted that Netanyahu is aware that Israel does not have the means and capabilities to destroy Iran’s nuclear program because the Iranians are hiding their facilities 60 meters underground. Moreover, Israel does not have the weapons and bombs that can change that fact, but America does.
“So he [Netanyahu] wants to create an inevitable confrontation between America and the Iranians so that America will be drawn into a confrontation in which it does not want to be involved. But at the same time, America wants to defend Israel in case Iran attacks Israel,” he explained. (Related: Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei calls for GLOBAL MILITARY COALITION against Israel.)
When asked if he thinks that Israel can afford to engage in hostilities on so many fronts, militarily and economically, he answered, “It has nothing to do with the military capabilities of the Israeli army.”
He said that it is about “the cost of fighting a war for more than a year and keeping hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the army that are now absent from the country’s workforce.” This, he said, increases the deficit to about 10 percent of the national budget.
“So, the Israeli economy is being eroded and its stability is threatened,” he concluded.
