Yaalon charged that Netanyahu and his top ministers exaggerate the threats Israelis face — from Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran — to distract the people from what he called the real challenges facing Israel.

“At this time and in the foreseeable future, there is not an existential threat to Israel,” the former defense minister said. “Israel is the strongest state in the region and there is an enormous gap between it and every country and organization around it. Therefore, it is appropriate for the leadership in Israel to stop scaring the citizens and to stop telling them that we are on the verge of a second Holocaust.”

“…It is a mistaken approach to think that if we fill citizens with fear, it will make them forget the corruption, the social gaps, the high cost of living and other challenges at the doorstep of the leadership,” he said.

“…The leadership of Israel in 2016 is busy with inflaming passions and causing fear between Jews and Arabs, between right and left and between different ethnic groups in order to survive in power and earn another month or year.”

Former Israeli defense minister calls Netanyahu a fearmonger who hypes threats – The Washington Post

hmmm