The one who was at the head of the government from 1999 to 2001, left rival of the current head of state, denounces a monarchical drift of “Bibi”. He believes that the reform of justice carried by the executive is dangerous.
The State of Israel turns 75 on Sunday, May 14. An anniversary in a time of great tension. The country faces Islamic Jihad in Gaza with Israeli bombardments and Palestinian rocket fire. At the same time, tens of thousands of Israelis have been mobilizing since the beginning of January against the project to reform the judicial system carried by the right-wing and far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The ruling coalition wishes in particular to weaken the powers of the Supreme Court in favor of Parliament and to change the method of appointing magistrates.
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Among the harshest critics of “Bibi” is his old left-wing rival Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister (1999-2001) and Minister of Defense (2007-20013), from the Labor Party. In great shape at 81, Ehud Barak receives guests in his contemporary style white office, on the 11th floor of a building in Tel Aviv. Behind him, his black lacquered piano. On the side, his elite commando soldier’s dagger. He denounces the alliance between Benjamin Netanyahu and the two leaders of the religious, racist and homophobic Zionist extreme right.
“The fact that Bibi has made himself hostage to these people in the government is dangerous. Smotrich and Ben Gvir may be wearing yarmulkes, they pray in the synagogue and want to go up the Temple Mount, but they twist Judaism, they twist Zionism, twist humanity.”
Ehud Barak, former Israeli Prime Ministerat franceinfo
For the former prime minister, the current government’s judicial reform plan puts Israel in great danger: “Bibi describes this as minor fixes… But if it’s only minor changes, why is this happening?” And addressing Benjamin Netanyahu: Are you ready to push Israel’s booming economy to the brink? Are you ready to destabilize Israel’s security? Are you ready to unravel solidarity and cohesion among pilots, among commando fighters, among cyber unit fighters?”
A monarchical drift
Ehud Barak knows Benjamin Netanyahu very well. He was his section chief in the army, he beat him in the 1999 elections and then he was his defense minister in a unity government. Today he denounces a monarchical drift. “His actions are illegitimatehe says. Charles 1st, king of England who did not understand the limits of power, ended up beheaded. In France too, there was a king by the grace of God and his wife thought that if people had no bread they could only eat brioche. With us, we must not arrive at the same result.”
As a counter-example to Netanyahu, Ehud Barak placed on glass shelves the busts of two other leftist Israeli Prime Ministers like him: David Ben-Gurion, the founder of the State of Israel and Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated for attempting to make peace with the Palestinians.