Former Disy leader Averof Neophytou on Wednesday defended his decision to call on Israel to “finish the job” in its war with Iran, while also lambasting Akel for criticising his successor Annita Demetriou instead of addressing its criticism of the remark directly to him.

He wrote in a post on social media that Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou should “address and hear from me instead of asking … Demetriou”.

“A war has started in Iran. As a result of uncertainty, oil prices have skyrocketed. If this situation does not end, the global economy will go into recession. Again, the global crisis will not bypass Cyprus, which is already experiencing the effects on tourism,” he said.

He said that to this end, “I said, addressing the Israeli ambassador, that the one who started this situation must end it”, and that as such, Stefanou should “leave the tactics to one side” and “speak responsibly about serious issues”.

Video footage of Neophytou speaking at the conference was published on social media late on Tuesday night by Greek journalist Dimitri Lascaris, with the conference reportedly having also been attended by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel and ambassador in Athens Noam Katz.

The video begins with Neophytou saying that “this cooperation has deepened into a formal, strategic alignment, focusing on energy, infrastructure, joint defence efforts, and economic innovation, acting as a crucial feeder of stability in the region”, before he turns his attention to the war

“By the way, since you start the war, you have to finish the job, in order to secure the future stability, we must suffer the today’s cost, but it’s better to secure stability for the future and the young and new generation,” he said.

In response, Akel had said that “in other words, he called for the continuation and intensification of the United States’ and Israel’s war against Iran, a war which violates international law, poses nightmarish dangers for humanity, and has enormous economic consequences which are paid for by the states and peoples of our region”.

“Disy and [its leader] Annita Demetriou must answer whether they embrace Averof Neophytou’s statement, which is cut and sewn to the measurements of the extremists who govern the US and Israel. They must answer whether this is the foreign policy they desire,” it said.

It added that if Disy “does not care about human lives about human lives and international law”, the party “should at least care about the devastating consequences that the US’ and Israel’s war has for Cyprus and its economy, for which society is once again paying”.

Neophytou is not standing at the forthcoming parliamentary elections, having led the party into the elections of 2016 and 2021, at which the party was twice the largest in parliament.

He first became an MP in 1996 but resigned his seat in 1999 to become late president Glafcos Clerides’ communications minister, before returning to the House in 2006, where he remained until last month.

According to recent polling, Akel and Disy are once again expected to be the largest two parties in parliament after the forthcoming election, with Disy currently holding a small lead.