Barak: When the state is “closed,” Netanyahu will realize that his time is up (European)

The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak called on Israeli army radio for demonstrators to besiege the Knesset.

Barak told Army Radio that “30,000 citizens must besiege the Knesset for 3 weeks, day and night,” and added that when the “state is closed,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will realize that his time is up and that trust in him is “zero,” as he put it.

Earlier this February, Barak published an article in Haaretz newspaper, in which he called for the necessity of holding early elections in Israel “before it is too late,” knowing that the elections will be held in 2026.

The former Israeli Prime Minister criticized Netanyahu's policies, stressing that his failure to reach a prisoner exchange deal was a "disgrace" on Israel, and warning that the course of the war might herald "the country sinking into the Gaza quagmire."

Barak warned against Netanyahu's policies, explaining: "The Israeli army cannot improve the odds of victory when there is no specific political goal, and in the absence of a realistic goal, we will end up drowning in the Gaza quagmire."

Barak saw that “between Israel and the possible solution (in Gaza) stand Netanyahu himself and his blackmailers, Ministers (National Security) Itamar Ben Gvir and (Finance) Bezalel Smotrich,” he said, adding that they are “preventing Israel from moving for the sake of its security in coordination with "The United States, and they are dragging it into the abyss to serve their own interests."

Last January, Barak said that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) had not been defeated, noting that the chances of recovering the “hostages” were declining despite the gains achieved by the Israeli army.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel - which is on trial before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the Palestinians - has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of Sunday, has left 29,692 martyrs and 69,879 wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to thousands of people missing under the siege. The rubble, according to the Palestinian authorities.

Source: Al Jazeera + Israeli press