Herzog: Netanyahu bluffs about security

Leader of opponents of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the prime minister has failed to provide security for Israelis and only bluffs about the issue.

Isaac Herzog also claimed on Friday he would not expand illegal settler units beyond the current major illegal settlement blocs in the West Bank if he is elected prime minister next month.

Speaking to CNN, Herzog castigated Netanyahu’s security policies and implored him to cancel his speech to Congress next month on Iran.

He also vowed if elected to rebuild Israel’s strained relations with the Obama administration.

Herzog cited a “growing disappointment and mistrust about Netanyahu’s security policy, stemming in part from his settlement policy and his tense relationship with President Barack Obama.

“I think that he failed and I’m trying to call his bluff on this,” the Zionist Union leader said.

“Security is not only at the balance of the gun,” he said.

“It has to do with regional alliances with our neighbors such as Jordan and Egypt. It has to do with our strategic alliance with the United States.”