The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has spread this Sunday on his social networks, just two days before the general elections in Israel, an image generated by AI that shows a nuclear explosion over Tel Aviv, warning of a "second holocaust" at the hands of Iran if he fails to impose himself at the polls.
In the message accompanying the illustration, Netanyahu states that "If the Iranians get nuclear weapons nothing else will matter. Everything else pales in comparison to the existential danger that Iran and the Shiite axis represent."
The leader has also referred to the corruption charges against him, calling them "a huge smokescreen" that is "designed to divert attention from the most important issue of all: finishing the job in Iran." He then posed the question: "If two nuclear bombs fell in the center of the country, who would care about these trivial and empty controversies?".
Netanyahu argues that Israel has the window of the next two years of the mandate of the American president, Donald Trump, to "complete the work in Iran," and has insisted that he considers this period as decisive.
In the same vein, he emphasized that "The hand of anyone who cares about their own physical survival, or that of their family and loved ones, should tremble in doubt before choosing someone incapable of completing this mission."
Later in the evening, during an appearance on a television program, the Prime Minister denounced that Iran spread this same Sunday a video in which, according to his account, the Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Jamenei, "orders to launch atomic bombs on Israel." "They have renewed their nuclear program (...). Like an injured fighter may attempt one last desperate attack and destroy us. Either they destroy us or we destroy this poisonous sect that has enshrined 'death to Israel' in its flag," he warned.
Faced with this scenario, he stated that a potential opposing government "is not going to do it." "Only we will do it," he asserted, before revealing that he has already given instructions to the Mossad and the Armed Forces to "overthrow the regime," which he described as "the only way to put an end to this." In his view, "These elections are about the existence of Israel."
Netanyahu has predicted that, once "the mission is completed," more Arab countries will join the Abraham Accords. In contrast, he has warned that an alternative government "will give Arab autonomy to Galilee and the Negev," referring to two strategic regions of the country.
Reactions to Netanyahu's campaign
The prime minister's words have provoked a cascade of criticism among his political rivals. The president of the Yashar party, Gadi Eisenkot, has labeled Netanyahu's message as "hysterical" and has denounced, "This is the same method of lying and frightening that he uses in every electoral campaign. This time he threatens Israeli citizens with mass destruction after failing in his attempt to achieve the war objectives in Iran."
The president of the Democratic Party, Yair Golan, has also responded, demanding: "I ask that he be kept away from social media. He himself and those around him are lost." Golan added that "On Tuesday we are going to replace those who sow panic and restore security and sanity in Israel."
At the same time, and after the massive event held on Saturday in Tel Aviv, the families of the victims and the kidnapped have urged the public this Sunday to keep their loved ones in mind when going to the polls, trying to influence the voting direction in an increasingly polarized political climate.