For first time, Netanyahu acknowledges Israel’s slide into isolation

JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday openly admitted for the first time that Israel is entering “a kind of isolation,” as international pressure mounts over the ongoing war in Gaza and his government’s far-right policies.

“We are entering a kind of isolation, and we will have to increasingly adjust to an economy with characteristics of self-sufficiency,” Army Radio quoted Netanyahu as saying at a Finance Ministry conference.

The admission marks a sharp departure from the government’s repeated denials of growing diplomatic estrangement despite months of warnings.

Israel’s economic daily The Marker quoted Netanyahu in the same conference as saying the country now lives “in a sort of political isolation” and must act accordingly.

He added that Israel must produce its own weapons to avoid dependency on the outside world.

Several Western nations, including the UK, Spain and Canada, have already halted arms exports to Israel in recent months. Others – among them France, Australia, Spain, Norway and the UK – have announced plans to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly meetings later this month.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid denounced Netanyahu’s comments as “insane.”

“Isolation is not fate. It is the product of Netanyahu’s misguided and failed policies. He is turning Israel into a third-world country and is not even trying to change course,” he said on the US social media company X.

Yair Golan, head of the opposition Democrats party and a former deputy army chief, also blasted the premier’s remarks.

“Netanyahu greets Israelis for the new year with this message: To preserve my throne, I need eternal war and eternal isolation. You will sacrifice the country, the economy, your children’s future and your ties to the world,” he said on X.

“Our response to this despicable man: This year we will change you and save Israel.”

The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 65,000 Palestinians since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.