Netanyahu: Livni held 'defeatist' talks with terrorist groups

A day after saying that Tzipi Livni, No. 2 on Labor-Hatnuah's Zionist Union list, was a danger to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday that "Tzipi Livni has held defeatist, compromising talks with terrorist organizations and their leaders over and over again."

"Now [Livni] and [Labor leader Isaac] Herzog have declared that they will give in to international whims before they have even been elected," the prime minister's post continued.

"This morning, Tzipi Livni announced that her proposal was to hold negotiations 'with the moderates in the Palestinian Authority.' And indeed, what does negotiating look like under Tzipi Livni? On Oct. 27, 2014, Livni declared her opposition to a decision we made about construction in east Jerusalem, saying that 'the construction plan, even if it's in blocs, is irresponsible both diplomatically and [in terms of] security,'" Netanyahu wrote.

"On May 15, 2014, Livni met with [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas despite the cabinet decision not to negotiate with the Fatah-Hamas unity government. That meeting took place in spite of my instructions and after Abbas had already entered a unity government with Hamas. In 2005, Livni met secretly with arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti in his cell at Hadarim Prison," Netanyahu continued.

"As foreign minister in the Olmert government, Livni agreed to give up some 96 percent of the territory in Judea and Samaria, a step that would have led to a terrorism base in the heart of the country. Even today, Livni is for some reason proud of U.N. Resolution 1701, which led to tens of thousands of rockets and missiles entering Lebanon," the prime minister wrote.

Netanyahu added that there was no need to discuss "Livni's part in and support for the disengagement from Gaza."

Herzog responded to the prime minister's post, saying: "The lower Netanyahu drops in the polls, the higher he goes with lies. I want to tell you a story that many don't know, but Netanyahu does: When the Americans called during Operation Protective Edge and during other crises, he asked for Tzipi to answer the phone, because she was the only sane, responsible voice in the government."

Meanwhile, Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett accused the Left of using violence against him and against fellow party member MK Ayelet Shaked. According to Bennett, the Left was responsible for the violent incidents at Habayit Hayehudi events that have increased in recent weeks.

On Thursday, Bennett posted a picture on his Facebook page of a poster bearing his image that had been defaced with a swastika and a Hitler mustache.

"After this incident, a decision was taken to assign me permanent security," Bennett wrote. "The Left has learned nothing from the murder of [Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin."

Earlier this week, Bennett was forced to wait half an hour before entering a party conference in Haifa over concerns for his personal safety. When the conference began, leftist activists present in the hall began shouting and creating a disturbance, and the event was halted.

According to Bennett, "The violent leftists wear different disguises each time. One time they're activists for public housing, another time they're with organizations against the 'occupation.' But they are political activists and they are activists with [Herzog's] Labor party."

Bennett's wife, Gilat, supported her husband's statements in a post on her own Facebook page, which said: "I'm scared. For months I've been begging for Naftali's personal security detail to be stepped up, and he says, 'Leave it alone. No one listens to me.' I'm asking you, leave Naftali alone," she wrote.

Labor MK Eitan Cabel said in response that "any incitement is an ugly phenomenon that we condemn unequivocally. We call on the law enforcement agencies to investigate and expose whoever is responsible for distributing the anti-Bennett posters."

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