Israeli leaders condemn Netanyahu’s decision to cancel strikes in Lebanon

TEL AVIV: Several Israeli leaders have condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to call of the strikes in Lebanon after being urged by US President Donald Trump to stop.

This comes after a heated telephonic conversation took place between Trump and Netanyahu over the Israeli strikes in Lebanon as per Axios. According to a US official cited by Axios, Trump expressed immense frustration over what he perceived as a disproportionate military response to Hezbollah’s strikes on Israel.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that he asked Netanyahu to not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon and claimed, “He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi!”

The US President said that he also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers.

However, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office in a post on X said that the country’s position remains unchanged, and that the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop firing at our cities and citizens – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut.

This position of ours remain unchanged.

Concurrently, the IDF will…

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 1, 2026

The Times of Israel reported that following Trump’s announcement, an Israeli source said Israel had agreed to postpone planned strikes on Beirut, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said they instructed the military to strike Hezbollah targets in the capital.

Several Israeli leaders took to social media expressing condemnation over Netanyahu’s decision. Addressing Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on X on urged him to tell “no” to Trump and continue to strike Hezbollah.

“You said that a strong prime minister tells the President of the United States–‘yes’ when possible, and ‘no’–when necessary. This is the time to tell our friend, President Trump–‘no’. Now is the time to do what is required and necessary to strike Hezbollah, to unleash the hands of our fighters, and to restore security to the north”, he wrote on X.

אדוני ראש הממשלה,

אמרת שראש ממשלה חזק אומר לנשיא ארה״ב- ׳כן׳ כשאפשר, ו׳לא׳- כשצריך.

זה הזמן לומר לידידנו, הנשיא טראמפ-׳לא׳.

כעת הזמן לעשות מה שמתחייב ונדרש כדי להכות בחיזבאללה, להתיר את ידי לוחמינו ולהחזיר את הביטחון לצפון.

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) June 1, 2026

As per the Jerusalem Post, former IDF chief of staff and Yashar! Party leader Gadi Eisenkot called Trump’s directive “a humiliating demand, one that is blatantly unreasonable,” and added that Netanyahu “is the man who preached morals to everyone about the basic need to be a prime minister and know how to say ‘no’ to the President of the United States”.

The Israeli outlet further noted that opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Netanyahu of behaving as though Israel were a protectorate state of the US. Lapid had called for a “powerful response” to the rocket fire from Lebanon on Saturday, writing that “the responsibility for the security of Israeli citizens lies solely with the Israeli government.”

MK Oded Forer urged Netanyahu to “fulfill his role and act to protect the residents of the North”. This comes after a heated telephonic conversation took place between Trump and Netanyahu over the Israeli strikes in Lebanon as per Axios. According to a US official cited by Axios, Trump expressed immense frustration over what he perceived as a disproportionate military response to Hezbollah’s strikes on Israel.

Over the weekend, Israeli forces executed their deepest ground incursion into Lebanese territory in 26 years. Compounding the crisis on Monday, Netanyahu directed fresh strikes against Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, indicating a significant intensification of the regional conflict. (ANI)