Ex-PM Barak launches scathing attack on Netanyahu

Ehud Barak launches an attack on Netanyahu, saying the prime minister is “weak” and “afraid,” and claims he recently mismanaged a challenge to Israel’s security — but says he cannot elaborate on the matter.

Barak accuses Netanyahu of “hesitation and zigzagging… pessimism, passiveness, panic and helplessness.”

“Netanyahu is regarded as a weak person, with a talent for deception,” who squanders opportunities to bolster Israel’s security, Barak says.

Barak says there’s “also a heavy price in another incident in which, again, [there was a] worrisome combination of inability to judge deep security interests… a lack of internalization of the cooperation potential with the United States, as well as careless operational behavior.”

“All these led to a most troubling exposure of Israel to a key security challenge. Due to the sensitivity of the matter I won’t be able to clarify further,” he says.

Barak says Netanyahu is only concerned about his own political survival, something he predicts will soon come under threat.