Matan Kahana presses the point that hurts Likud: "That's why they are in such shock and stress"

This morning (Thursday), we woke up to the painful news of the death of two IDF soldiers yesterday in southern Lebanon, as a result of an explosive device detonating in the security zone. The event was addressed by Col. (res.) Matan Kahana of the Yamina party, a former minister and MK, who spoke with Nissim Mishal and Anat Davidov on their program on 103FM radio about the latest developments in the north.

At the beginning of his remarks, he said: "This is a direct continuation of the government's lack of policy, which ultimately led to a connection between the arenas, between Iran and Lebanon. Under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has lost its freedom of action in Lebanon. It cannot respond as it should have responded. We are now dependent on what the Americans will say. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is managing us. Benjamin Netanyahu internationalized the conflict, handed over responsibility for the State of Israel to foreign parties, and now we have lost our freedom of action in Lebanon."

Kahana further said: "To say 'we stumbled' is a mistake. The way the government acted... they told us stories about a 'total victory' coming very soon, which prevented them from developing any strategy for ending the war. We arrived at a situation where the world, led by Trump, is forcing all the moves on us. With a different strategy over the last three years, if we had a normal government here that was looking for how to utilize the great achievements of the IDF and the security forces and translate them into political arrangements, then everything would have looked different."

In addition, Kahana said: "Gadi Eisenkot, when he was Chief of Staff, established the Dahiya strategy. He determined that every time something happens in the State of Israel, we take down buildings in Dahiya."

He also said: "This government, after all the boastful and arrogant words, is returning us to the same concept of endless rounds in which there is mutual deterrence where we don't dare to do anything. They are returning us to the concept of October 7th, when we thought this lesson had already been learned. They need to understand that we are done playing with them, and for every such thing, we come and take down a building or two in Dahiya so that there will be a very heavy price for their violations. For four years, a plane has been flown by the worst crew in the history of the State of Israel, and now we are really nose-down on the way to a crash."

Regarding Qatar, the former minister said: "I think Qatar behaves like an enemy state, it is hostile to Israel, it financed and built Hamas and harms us in the international arena. But things are complex and one needs to sit down seriously and think. It is a bad country that behaves like an enemy, but there is complexity here that needs to be addressed. Naftali Bennett will make his considerations, we will address these issues with the seriousness they deserve."

"The thought that the political picture is already set is not correct, and there will be all kinds of parties that will still rise and close. I think the public needs to make the next central consideration: who in their eyes will bring about the continuation of Netanyahu's rule, and who in their eyes will do everything he can so that Netanyahu retires to his home and lives until the age of 120 in the bosom of his family. I think the new party that will rise... I wouldn't be sure that they will act to end Netanyahu's rule, and the public needs to take that into account," he added.

And finally, he said: "Dudi Amsalem expresses what Likud leaders see in their polls. The Likud public loves and appreciates Gadi Eisenkot very much. That is why they are in a frenzy and tantrum of a vicious, toxic, and low-level campaign against Gadi Eisenkot, including their campaigners on Channel 14 who suddenly came out with a campaign that Gadi is not Moroccan. There is a Moroccan Prime Minister whose name is Netanyahu, and Gadi is not Moroccan. All this ethnic discourse is simply a delusion. Dudi Amsalem knows the Likud sentiment that loves and appreciates Gadi Eisenkot. They see in the polls that the second most loved person by Likud voters is Gadi Eisenkot. That is why they are in such shock and stress, and that is why it is so important that Eisenkot be the next Prime Minister, because he will unite the people of Israel."