Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak attacked Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Saturday, claiming he was whitewashing criminal investigations of the Netanyahu family.What's particularly laughable is the allegations Netanyahu tried to assist Mozes in shutting down Israel HaYom, a paper that happens to support Netanyahu and also thought the allegations were ridiculous, and Barak actually upholds those too, despite how flimsy they are. And what are the chances Barak was involved in spying and misinformation? Well now something serious has come up, and Barak would do well to take responsibility, apologize, and remove himself from all proceedings altogether.
"Mandelblit is inclined not to file an indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu based on Case 2000, contrary to the position of senior Justice Ministry officials, although the decision could still change," Channel 13 news reported on Friday.
If Mandelblit tries to close Case 2000 – which involves an alleged quid pro quo agreement between Netanyahu and Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon Mozes – contrary to the recommendation of the State Attorney’s Office and police investigators, Barak said, “[and] if the High Court does not intervene, a state commission of inquiry will be required.”
The former prime minister also called Mandelblit “unworthy,” “a disgrace,” and concluded by calling upon the attorney-general to “come to [his] senses.”
Barak has publicly attacked Mandelblit since the Harpaz Affair, which went on for more than four years. That case was an alleged 2010 plot by Boaz Harpaz to illegally undermine then-defense minister Barak’s choice of Yoav Galant to succeed Gabi Ashkenazi as IDF chief of staff, as part of a battle between Barak and Ashkenazi that allegedly involved spying and spreading misinformation about the other.
The Likud filed a complaint Saturday night against Barak for disruption of legal proceedings, claiming his comments were a clear attempt at extortion.
And that's not all the meddling Barak's done. There's also his involvement in getting Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid to join together for the election campaign:
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his staff could be behind a campaign that urged the center-left parties to unite and run on a joint ticket in the April 9 election, according to a document revealed by Channel 13 on Saturday evening.It's clear Barak's seeking revenge against the right-wing for achieving successes he failed to obtain, and wants to damage Israel's stability as he did years before. This is very disturbing, and indicates that, at 70 years of age or so, he's decided to make this his idea of a "mission".
The campaign slogan was "Bli ichud, hakol avud," a play on words that can mean either "Without unity, all is lost" or "Without unity, the vote is lost."
The document, which was signed by Barak confidant attorney Oshi Elmaliach – who also oversaw the nonprofit group National Responsibility, which was behind the campaign – states that "With the announcement by Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Bogi [Moshe] Ya'alon, Gabi Ashkenazi, and others that they will be running on a single list, we hereby inform you that a very successful campaign has come to an end and [that] we are ceasing all activity.
"Generally speaking and as required by laws on party funding … continued activity following the announcement by most actors that they are running together could lead to needless restrictions on party funding. Our mission is complete and ended the moment a major merger was created on the Center-Left," the document states.
Barak's staff issued a response to the Channel 13 report: "In the past two and a half years, Barak has worked extensively, sometimes alone, to bring together a fighting opposition. In recent months, Barak has done a lot of work to achieve mergers on the Center-Left.
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