Ya’alon Criticizes Netanyahu’s Election-Day Warnings and Urges Voters to Turn Out

Former defense minister and IDF chief Moshe Ya’alon criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an election-day statement on October 27, accusing him of spreading warnings about security tensions and the conduct of the vote. In a post published that afternoon, Ya’alon urged people concerned about Israel’s future to vote and replace the government. Ya’alon alleged that Netanyahu had sought to inflame tensions involving Iran and Judea and Samaria. He also accused the prime minister of returning to messages about Arab turnout and claims that the election could be stolen. Those accusations were Ya’alon’s political assertions; they did not establish that Netanyahu had manipulated security developments or that any election fraud had occurred. In his own statement, Ya’alon said: “He tried to stir up war against Iran.” His appeal coupled criticism of Netanyahu’s conduct with a call for participation in the election. It was a statement during voting, rather than a report of an election result. Earlier on October 27, Netanyahu had used his official Telegram channel to urge Likud supporters to vote. At 11:59, he alleged that right-wing ballot slips were being defaced and told voters to check that their slips were intact and unmarked. At 12:58, he claimed Arab participation was unusually high and turnout on the right was low. These were Netanyahu’s own claims and earlier appeals, rather than a response to Ya’alon’s later post.