Lapid, Netanyahu Hold 1st Security Briefing

For the first time since becoming opposition leader more than a year ago, Binyamin Netanyahu met with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and his military secretary Maj. Gen. Avi Gil to receive a security briefing. Netanyahu had previously boycotted the meetings, which are required by law, saying he did not recognize the legitimacy of the coalition government formed under then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The coalition has since dissolved and the government is being headed by caretaker Lapid.

The security briefing comes three days after the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Breaking Dawn, targeting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, which had threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for the arrest by Israeli forces last week of a senior Islamic Jihad leader in Jenin in the West Bank.

Netanyahu said in a statement after the meeting that he received a detailed briefing on the operation.  “We’re in the midst of fighting. I of course give full backing to the government, to the IDF and the security forces. I also commend the residents of the south for their resilience and urge them to continue to heed the instructions from the Homefront Command. This truly saves lives,” he said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the cross-border hostilities. The meeting was requested by the United Arab Emirates, which is a member of the Security Council, as well as along with China, France, Ireland and Norway. Israel and the UAE normalized relations two years ago as part of the Abraham Accords.

Also over the weekend, the United States affirmed Israel’s right to protect its citizens from rockets fired from Gaza.