Israeli tech CEOs call for Netanyahu's ouster

Jerusalem: Negating the notion of "you do not switch (leadership) during war", several leading Israeli tech company leaders have called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ouster as soon as possible "to cut down losses".

Dan Adika, the CEO and Co-Founder of tech firm WalkMe, on Tuesday joined Amnon Shashua, the founder of self-driving auto technologies firm Mobileye, in calling for Netanyahu to step down following his government's failures after the unprecedented attack by Hamas militants from Gaza on October 7.

Several other tech leaders also harshly criticised the prime minister for refusing to accept responsibility. “Netanyahu needs to go as soon as possible, despite the idea that ‘you don’t switch [leaders] during a war’ and ‘we shouldn’t talk about this now’,” Adika told Israeli business newspaper ‘Calclalist’, accusing the government of failing to operate in the wake of the deadly assault.

“He’s not fit to lead and needs to go,” the tech leader said. Several security chiefs have accepted responsibility for the massive failure, but Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister who has been at the helm of affairs since 2009 except for a brief 13-month gap, has desisted from taking any blame for it.