STORY: Benjamin Netanyahu is under criticism at home after U.S. President Donald Trump declared Israel would halt plans to attack Iran ally Hezbollah in Beirut.

Trump said on Monday (June 1) that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to halt attacks on one another, hours after Netanyahu ordered new strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, prompting a warning from Iran that Israel was jeopardizing Tehran's talks with the U.S.

Lebanon's government later announced a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, under which Israel would halt strikes on southern Beirut and Hezbollah would stop attacks on Israel.

This prompted Netanyahu's political challengers in elections due by October, to accuse the prime minister of having acquiesced to Trump on issues of national security.

"The location is different, the story is the same," said Naftali Bennett, a right-wing security hawk and former premier who also criticizes Netanyahu over Hamas militants' resurgence in Gaza.

Bennett and his coalition partner in the upcoming election, current Israeli opposition leader and centrist Yair Lapid, have pressed for strikes against Hezbollah.

"A full protectorate," Lapid said in an X post, in effect accusing Netanyahu of allowing the U.S. to dictate Israeli military policy as if Israel were an American client state.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israeli military who is also running for prime minister, said on Monday that Trump's push for Israel to halt attacks were unreasonable and unprecedented. The criticism underscores growing tensions within Israel's political system over the extent to which military decisions should be coordinated with its closest ally, the United States.

Netanyahu's coalition partner Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, said that Israel should tell Trump: "no".

The hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite an April 16 U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The latest conflict began on March 2 with Hezbollah firing into Israel in support of Iran.

Israel has since deepened its invasion of southern Lebanon, displacing over a million people and killing more than 3,400 as it bombards areas with attacks it says are aimed at rooting out Hezbollah. Hezbollah has not released figures on its war dead.

Hezbollah has fired rockets and explosive drones at Israeli troops and northern Israeli towns. Israel says 26 soldiers and four civilians have been killed since March 2.

Netanyahu faces many challenges in the upcoming elections, with mounting pressure to disband the Israeli Knesset and protests of the ultra-orthodox, against conscription, highlighting pressure the Israeli leader faces ahead of an election polls show him losing.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Netanyahu faces criticism after Trump halts Israeli strikes on Beirut

VIDEO SHOWS: SCREENSHOTS OF STATEMENTS FROM ISRAELI OPPOSITION FIGURES ON SOCIAL MEDIA / ISRAELI MILITARY ACTIVITY IN LEBANON / PROTESTS IN JERUSALEM OVER CONSCRIPTION

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: FOR THE VIDEO OF GADI EISENKOT:

Location and date could not be verified

No older version of the video was posted online before June 1

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: UNKNOWN LOCATION (RELEASED JUNE 1, 2026) (AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN SPOKESPERSON - Access all) (SHOT IN PORTRAIT)

1. (SOUNDBITE)(Hebrew) ISRAELI POLITICIAN, AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN, SAYING:

"This is unacceptable that northern Israel is under heavy bombardment for days on end. Soldiers are wounded, killed, and the Prime Minister of Israel is waiting for approval from Trump to bomb Dahiyeh.

We are not a banana republic. We must level Dahiyeh now, and not stop until the last building there is brought down."

NORTHERN ISRAEL (JUNE 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

2. VARIOUS PLUMES OF SMOKE RISING IN SOUTHERN LEBANON AS SEEN FROM THE ISRAELI SIDE OF THE BORDER

3. ISRAELI MILITARY CONVOY

4. PROJECTILE SEEN IN SKY, SOUND OF AIR RAID SIRENS

5. SMOKE RISING FROM HOUSE ON THE ISRAELI SIDE OF THE BORDER

ZEBDINE, LEBANON (GIVEN AS MAY 31, 2026) (ISRAELI MILITARY - Access all) (MUTE)

6. VARIOUS OF ISRAELI ARMY VIDEOS SHOWING AIRSTRIKES NORTH OF LITANI RIVER

NABATIEH GOVERNORATE, LEBANON (RELEASED ON MAY 31, 2026) (ISRAELI MILITARY - Access all)(MUTE)

7. VARIOUS OF BEAUFORT CASTLE

8. VARIOUS OF ISRAELI TROOPS RUNNING DOWN STAIRS

9. ISRAELI TROOPS APPROACHING CASTLE ENTRANCE

10. TRACKING SHOT OF ISRAELI SOLDIER WITH WEAPON WALKING UP THE STAIRS

11. ISRAELI SOLDIERS WITH WEAPONS

GIVEN AS NABATIEH GOVERNORATE, LEBANON (RELEASED ON MAY 31, 2026) (ISRAELI MILITARY - Access all) (MUTE)

12. SOLDIERS WALKING

INTERNET (JUNE 1, 2026) (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - Access all) (MUTE)

13. SCREENSHOT OF POST ON SOCIAL WEBSITE “X” FROM ISRAELI MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY, ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, READING (English):

"Mr. Prime Minister, You said that a strong prime minister tells the President of the United States—'yes' when possible, and 'no'—when necessary. This is the time to tell our friend, President Trump—'no'. Now is the time to do what is required and necessary to strike Hezbollah, to unleash the hands of our fighters, and to restore security to the north."

UNKNOWN LOCATION (RELEASED JUNE 1, 2026ׁ) (Gadi Eisenkot - No resales / No archive / Must on-screen courtesy Gadi Eisenkot)

14. (SOUNDBITE)(Hebrew) YASHAR! PARTY CHAIRMAN AND FORMER CABINET MEMBER, GADI EISENKOT, SAYING:

"There has never been a prime minister in Israel who yielded so submissively to a demand that is patently unreasonable! Hezbollah is an enemy against Israel, from Lebanon and then from Syria into Lebanon.

Hezbollah is an enemy also in the Dahiyeh of Beirut, in Baalbek, anywhere Hezbollah is deployed, it must be struck, and the hands of the IDF should not be tied.What Netanyahu, the government, and the cabinet are doing today is harming the national interests of the State of Israel out of weakness."

NORTHERN ISRAEL (JUNE 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

15. VIEW OF HOMES ON THE ISRAELI SIDE OF THE BORDER, SOUND OF AIR RAID SIRENS

16. VARIOUS OF PROJECTILES AND INTERCEPTIONS IN SKY

UNKNOWN LOCATION (RELEASED JUNE 1, 2026ׁ) (Gadi Eisenkot - No resales / No archive / Must on-screen courtesy Gadi Eisenkot)

17. (SOUNDBITE)(Hebrew) YASHAR! PARTY CHAIRMAN AND FORMER CABINET MEMBER, GADI EISENKOT, SAYING:

"Lebanon is right here. Metula is taking hits, Israeli communities are empty; this is unacceptable. And the one responsible for this is the man who lectured everyone about the basic necessity of being prime minister and knowing how to say “no” to the President of the United States."

INTERNET (JUNE 1, 2026) (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - Access all)

18. SCREENSHOT OF SOCIAL MEDIA POST FROM X BY ISRAELI OPPOSITION LEADER YAIR LAPID, READING (Hebrew):

" A full protectorate".

INTERNET (JUNE 1, 2026) (SOCIAL MEDIA - Access all) (MUTE)

19. SCREENSHOT OF SOCIAL MEDIA POST BY ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU READING(Hebrew):

"Tonight, I spoke with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut. This stance of ours remains unchanged. In parallel, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon."

JERUSALEM (JUNE 1, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

20. PROTESTERS BEING SPRAYED BY POLICE WATER CANNON

21. MOUNTED POLICE

22. ISRAELI POLICE RUSHING TO PROTESTERS SITTING NEXT TO POLICE WATER CANNON/ POLICE ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THEM

INTERNET (JUNE 1, 2026) (SOCIAL MEDIA - Access all) (MUTE)

23. SCREENSHOT OF SOCIAL MEDIA POST BY FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NAFTALI BENNETT, READING (English):

"Jerusalem. Beit Shemesh. Lebanon. Gaza. The location is different, the story is the same. A government that has lost control over Israeli sovereignty. Chaos in every corner. We will restore security to the citizens of Israel."