Netanyahu ‘weak,’ ‘prefers fear over hope,’ Barak says

New recordings made by Ehud Barak and aired by Channel 2 TV reveal that the former defense minister described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “weak,” indecisive, and fearful.

In other recordings released earlier Sunday, Barak says he, along with Kadima party lawmakers, had plotted to oust party leader and former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Speaking about Netanyahu’s appointment of Avichai Mandelblit as cabinet secretary after the former chief military advocate general was linked to the Harpaz affair, Barak said Netanyahu found it hard to make decisions.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO/Flash90)
Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. (Kobi Gideon/GPO/Flash90)

“Bibi [Netanyahu] is weak, he doesn’t want to take difficult steps unless he is forced to,” Barak is heard saying.

“Bibi himself is clouded in a sort of deep pessimism, and a tendency… in the balance between fear and hope, he generally prefers to be more fearful, he once called it worried,” Barak says.

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