Published 17/09/2025 13:13 | Edited 17/09/2025 13:24
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Monday (15) that the country is going through an international isolation process and argued that the economy adapts to a self-sufficiency model, including in the war sector.
The statement occurs amid the advance of war in the Gaza Strip and the intensification of criticism against Tel Aviv.
At a Ministry of Finance conference, Netanyahu stated that Israel could face weapon embargoes and even economic sanctions. “Israel is in a kind of isolation,” he said.
“We will need to adapt to an economy with municipal characteristics. It’s a word that I hate, because I was the one who brought the free market revolution to Israel. But we have no choice,” said the Zionist leader.
The premie cited as an example the need to expand the domestic war industry. “We are Athens and Sparta. But we will be Athens and super-space,” he said, adding that the country will have to develop all the production capacity it needs not to depend on external suppliers.
Netanyahu attributed isolation to external factors, including the “unlimited migration” of Muslims to Europe.
According to him, this contingent became a “significant minority-very vocal and belligerent”, which pressures governments to adopt anti-Israel positions.
The prime minister also accused Qatar and China of funding digital operations against Israel, using social networks, bots and artificial intelligence.
“This puts us in a kind of isolation. We can break, but we need to invest heavily on contracted, in operations of influence on the media and social networks,” he said.
He also mentioned Al Jazeera, a doha-based Arab broadcaster as an instrument of anti-Israel propaganda.
Opposition reactions
Netanyahu’s lines caused a strong internal reaction. Opposition leader Yair Lapid called “madness” the admission of isolation and stated that the situation is the result of “Netanyahu’s failure and failed policy, which turned Israel into a third world country”.
Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats, said that the prime minister places his political survival above the national interest.
“To protect my chair, I need eternal war and isolation,” Golan mocked in reference to Netanyahu. “You will sacrifice the state, economy and future of your children,” he said.
A former war-of-war member, Gadi Eisenkot criticized the government’s “paralysis” in conducting the conflict.
“If the prime minister does not know how to resolve, he must deliver the keys and return the mandate to the people immediately,” he protested.
Economic impact
The Israeli Manufacturers’ Association warned that the “Israel brand was seriously impaired” abroad and that the adoption of an local model would be “a disaster” for the economy.
The High-Tech Forum Forum for Israel mocked, “Is this the Prime Minister’s view-being orange vendors again?”
The statements had immediate impact on the markets: the main rates of the Tel Aviv scholarship fell up to 2% after the speech, but recovered part of the losses at the end of the day.
Despite the negative reaction, Netanyahu tried to contain the damage. He said the Israeli action market is “the strongest in the world,” that the Israeli currency, Shekel, has valued and that foreign investments in research and development put Israel behind only the US.
The statements occurred on the same day Netanyahu received in Jerusalem a delegation of 250 US state legislators, the largest ever sent to Israel by a single country.
Alongside the Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Donald Trump government, he praised his partnership with Washington and attacked European countries that plan to recognize the Palestinian state.
Source: vermelho.org.br
