Israeli analysts have sharply criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing him as a “failure” and a "liar", while noting that US President Donald Trump “humiliated” him by excluding him from an agreement with Iran.
On Monday evening, Netanyahu acknowledged that he was unaware of the details of the memorandum of understanding reached between Washington and Tehran to end the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28.
Netanyahu claimed he had saved Israelis from “nuclear annihilation” by launching the war against Iran and acknowledged differences of opinion with Trump, saying such disagreements “exist in the best of families.”
Trump lashed out at Netanyahu for Israel’s attacks in Lebanon while the US-Iran deal was being finalised on Sunday, telling Axios that Netanyahu has "no f***ing judgement".
Trump also described Netanyahu as "f***ing crazy" and accused him of being ungrateful on June 2 in a fiery phone call.
Trump said on Monday that the US and Iran had already signed the agreement and that the Strait of Hormuz “will be fully reopened by Friday"; Tehran has said only that the memorandum is scheduled to be signed in Switzerland to formalise it on June 19.
Liar
Haaretz columnist Yossi Verter launched a scathing attack on Netanyahu in an article headlined "Without shame, the architect of failure claimed he saved Israel from collective death. It was another lie among many.”
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands at the height of what any objective expert would define as a colossal strategic failure for the State of Israel, and all he has to tell its citizens is, ‘Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, not as long as I am prime minister,'" he wrote.
Netanyahu “has been saying that for 30 years. Yet in the same breath, at his press conference on Monday, Netanyahu claimed Israel had been a hair's breadth away from ‘mass death,’ a catastrophe he supposedly prevented,” he added.
Tel Aviv and Washington accuse Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons that threaten Israel and US allies in the region. Iran, however, maintains that its nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful, says it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons and insists it poses no threat to other states.
Netanyahu “has no idea what is contained in the memorandum of understanding the US and Iran digitally signed behind his back. The Iranians know. The Pakistanis know. Presumably, the Qataris know. Netanyahu, it seems, does not,” the columnist said.
He also challenged Netanyahu’s assertion that Israel prevented Hezbollah from invading Israel, calling it “an utter lie".
He concluded that Netanyahu’s press conference “projected defeat", adding that even when he declared that he would “run and win” Israel's next election, he sounded somewhat sceptical himself.
Netanyahu's show is over
Maariv columnist Ben Caspit wrote an article titled "Netanyahu's show is over: Trump threw him under the bus.”
Caspit questioned Netanyahu’s repeated warnings that Israel had “escaped certain death”, asking who had placed the country in such a position in the first place.
He argued that invoking the threat of “annihilation” was intended to obscure responsibility for Israel’s failures regarding Iran.
“Once again, Israel was left outside the picture,” he added.
Netanyahu has been wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2024 over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in Gaza during Israel’s genocide, which has killed more than 73,000 people and injured over 173,000 others since October 2023.
“He also admitted he knew nothing about the agreement that was signed electronically without his knowledge,” Caspit wrote. “It is reminiscent of another agreement signed in 2015.”
“Netanyahu always ends up in the same position,” he continued. “He is pushed aside, thrown under the bus, and left standing in the hallway like a scolded child waiting for a verdict that was delivered in his absence.”
Public humiliation
In a separate analysis published by the Walla news portal, commentator Barak Seri argued that Netanyahu’s sense of triumph “turned within a single day into his greatest concern and greatest humiliation.”
Seri noted that Netanyahu had not addressed the Israeli media since March, despite the wars involving Iran and Hezbollah and missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage in Israel, choosing instead to speak almost exclusively to foreign outlets, particularly American media.
“But last night he decided to speak,” Seri wrote. “The reason was the dismal outcome of the agreement with Iran and the bitter sense of anxiety prevailing in Israel, including among his own supporters.”
He added that senior Israeli officials viewed the deal as “bad and dangerous for Israel", describing it as “a real disaster” that was reached without Israel’s interests being taken into account.
Seri argued that “none of the war objectives was achieved”, not eliminating Iran’s nuclear programme, not removing its ballistic missile capabilities, not creating conditions for government change, and not addressing Tehran’s continued support for Hezbollah and the Houthis.
“Trump’s harsh and humiliating reversal against Netanyahu and Israel, accompanied by reports of difficult conversations, insults and threats, quickly leaked to the media,” Seri said. “Trump subjected Netanyahu to a genuine public humiliation.”
