Yesh Atid MK suggests Netanyahu has ‘mental problems,’ apologizes

Ram Ben-Barak leads a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 5, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Ram Ben-Barak leads a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 5, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak apologizes for suggesting that opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has mental problems.

Ben Barak made the remark during a radio interview in which he was asked about the security briefing Netanyahu received today from Prime Minister Yair Lapid, the first time the former premier has attended such a meeting since leaving office a year ago.

“I was really happy to see that Prime Minister Lapid was sitting on the right side of the table, and opposition leader Netanyahu on the other side, that really calmed me,” Ben Barak said. “[Netanyahu] is the guy who did not give backing to his ministers, he doesn’t give credit to anyone, it’s all ‘me, me, me.’ It’s hard for him in these situations. We understand that he has mental problems of some sort or another.”

Ben Barak, who heads the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, issues an apology after the comment is shared widely, saying the remark was “out of place and for that I apologize.”

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