Barak Pops Off at Netanyahu Again

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak continued his campaign against incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday, this time with an op-ed article in The Washington Post.

The piece accused Netanyahu of “reckless conduct” damaging to Israel’s security, and joined opposition politicians in maintaining that he mishandled negotiations for the military aid package signed with the U.S. the day before.

“The damage produced by Netanyahu’s irresponsible management of the relations with the White House is now fully manifest,” Barak wrote. “Israel will receive $3.8 billion a year — an important contribution to our security, but far less than what could have been obtained before the prime minister chose to blatantly interfere with U.S. politics.”

Barak has in the past criticized Netanyahu for appearing before the U.S. Congress in March 2015 to inveigh against the Iran nuclear deal, a move which reportedly enraged the White House.

Netanyahu has denied the charge that he tried to influence the 2012 presidential election in support of Republican Mitt Romney.

The Likud party responded, calling the op-ed “nonsense” by the “most failed prime minister in Israel’s history” who is attempting a “pathetic [political] comeback.”

“The publication of an article that bashes Israel in the U.S. media on the day the largest aid deal in the history of the U.S. was signed is just further proof that Ehud Barak does not have Israel’s best interests at heart.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on Barak’s article, but sources close to the prime minister were quoted by Israel Radio dismissing them it as written by a person “who has been unfamiliar with the details for a number of years now.”