The sarcastic comment didn't matter anymore. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israeli Minister of National Security in Benjamin Netanyahu's government, was accused of harming Israel's strategy against Tehran by implicitly attributing to him responsibility for the explosions reported this Friday morning in Iran, attributed to Israel by American officials quoted in media in the United States.
Supporter of the hard line in the confrontation between Israel and its sworn enemy, Itamar Ben Gvir, who is a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, published on his X account a message as terse as it is ironic: “Dardaleh! ", colloquial Hebrew adjective that can be translated as "null" or "shabby". In addition to criticizing its moderation, this far-right leader seems to support the hypothesis of an Israeli strike.
“National pyromaniac”
Itamar Ben Gvir's publication on X sparked an avalanche of criticism on social networks as well as on television channels, with Labor MP Naama Lazimi describing "a reaction worthy of the national arsonist".
Israel had promised retaliation for the unprecedented missile and drone attacks carried out by Iran against Israeli territory last weekend. By attacking Israel on April 13, Iran said it acted in “self-defense” after the strike, blamed on Israel, which destroyed its consulate in Damascus on April 1 and cost the lives of seven of its soldiers, including two high-ranking officers. .
“Absolute shame”
For Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, academic and host of a geopolitics podcast, Itamar Ben Gvir “confirms the Israeli operation AND ridicules it”. In doing so, “it reduces Israel's ability to mount plausible deniability and undermines its power of deterrence.” An absolute shame on the part of a minister,” he wrote on X. The Iranian press agency Tasnim republished Itamar Ben Gvir’s post on its X account this Friday.
No stranger to provocations, Tally Gotliv, MP for Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party, for her part welcomed the events, speaking on X of "a morning of pride" for Israel. “Israel is a strong and powerful country,” added this member of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the Israeli Parliament, drawing scathing comments on X.