Barak: ‘Noose tightening’ in Netanyahu investigations

Former prime minister Ehud Barak goes after Netanyahu on Twitter, predicting that the investigations against him will force him to step down.

“A sixth investigations. The noose continues to tighten. The defenses are crumbling,” he tweets, referring to the prime minister’s interrogation this evening.

“[Netanyahu’s] inner circle will probably stand trial. Bibi’s career will end in indictments.”

Barak goes on to say that the Israel Police’s “integrity” will keep Netanyahu from talking his way out of a trial.

“When it came to [Ehud] Olmert, Bibi himself asserted that a prime minister cannot function while under criminal investigations. It’s time for him to practice what he preached and go home.”

Last week, Barak gave testimony to investigators examining suspected corruption in Israel’s purchase of submarines from a German shipbuilder.

He served as defense minister under Netanyahu when the submarines were purchased, and, controversially, he and Netanyahu ordered a sixth submarine against the advice of then-chief of staff Benny Gantz.

Neither Netanyahu nor Barak has been named as a suspect in that affair.

The prime minister is a suspect in two other cases involving suspected illicit gifts and a quid-pro-quo deal with a newspaper editor.