A person takes a photo of a banner during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Reuters)

Tel Aviv, July 15 (RHC)-- Israel’s former minister of military affairs and opposition leader Avigdor Lieberman has warned that Israel may “cease to exist” by 2026 if the embattled prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power.

Lieberman said in an interview with the Hebrew-language Maariv daily newspaper that Netanyahu is leading Israel “toward destruction” as he is incapable of managing the occupying entity.  According to Lieberman Netanyahu is primarily focused on maintaining his hold on power.

“Israel is facing existential threats and is undergoing a multi-dimensional crisis encompassing political, economic, and security issues—the most significant since its establishment.”  He criticized the entire political system in Israel, saying that it is compromised by interest groups.

Lieberman also censured the Israeli prime minister’s handling of the months-long war in the besieged Gaza Strip and the regime’s failure to prevent the retaliatory Hamas-led Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7 last year.

Lieberman has previously called for the ouster of Netanyahu’s cabinet, underlining that the premier’s removal from power would be a reward for Israelis.

In addition to opposition leaders, Israeli settlers have over the past months railed against Netanyahu and his cabinet and condemned the regime’s refusal to negotiate with the Palestinian resistance for the release of the Israeli captives, who are being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Some 250 Israelis were taken captive on October 7 during Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. The regime responded to the operation by launching the war that has so far killed close to 38,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

A week-long truce deal agreed upon in November saw the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement releasing 105 of the captives in return for some 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The Palestinian resistance group has ever since agreed to two more truce proposals. Tel Aviv has, however, rejected one proposal and refused to respond to another, while escalating the war, something which has led to the death of many of the remaining captives.

In a report published on Saturday, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth warned the regime of the risks of a full-scale war in the north of the occupied territories to the security of the Israeli financial market.

The report said the “economic darkness” scenario, which deals with the risks that threaten Israel’s capital market, starts from cyber attacks and continuous hacks, through the fear of data leaks and the interruption of vital services, to the flight of investors in the stock market.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that in addition to the rush for generators and emergency food supplies due to the fear of war in the north, “there are those working around the clock to fortify the defense wall of the capital market against the threat of an attack that could shake the Israeli economy.”   “Such a scenario is not separated from reality,” the report warned.

Israel’s Cyber Warfare Formation said in a report that, so far this year, more than 3,380 cyber attacks have been launched against companies traded on the Israeli stock exchange, 800 of which were identified as potentially damaging.

The Formations’ report said it had received  13,040 reports throughout 2023, adding that 68% of the attacks “occurred during the Gaza war (from October 7 to December), representing a 43% increase in attack reports compared to 2022.”

Israeli experts said an economic analysis of the damages caused by cyberattacks estimates that the total cost is approximately 12 billion shekels annually (around 3.5 billion dollars), a record amount reflecting only the potential economic damage that could occur during a strong northern war.

According to the report, the “economic darkness” scenario “keeps many economists awake at night.”

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of rocket attacks on the north of the occupied territories since October 7, 2023, in support of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The illegal entity has responded by attacking areas lying across southern Lebanon, and threatening to turn the country into “another Gaza.”