Iran represents the solid bond uniting Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu. Both feels the threat of the Islamic republic and wants aggressive action against it.
Iran represents the solid bond uniting Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu. Both feels the threat of the Islamic republic and wants aggressive action against it. What unites Barak and Netanyahu, according to the political analyst of Haaretz newspaper Aluf Benn, is that both consider “Israel” a Western bastion in the heart of a “hostile” Muslim world. Both do not trust the Arabs and believe that there is no partner on the Palestinian side. And both consider the Iranian nuclear program a major threat to Israel and support a military operation against it. Their views are bolstered by the incoming chief of staff, Yoav Galant. Barak’s announcement that he quit the Labor party was seen as bolster to Netanyahu and in conformity with him. Their move to offload the Labor ministers who opposed Barak sought to keep Barak in his defense minister's chair. Benn analyzes that without Barak by his side, Netanyahu would find it hard to advance aggressive moves on the Iranian front. “Netanyahu has no military record that grants him supreme defense authority, as Ariel Sharon had. Only Barak, with his ranks and medals, his seniority as a former prime minister, can give Netanyahu this kind of backing.” Mossad director Meir Dagan said in a briefing, before stepping down last week, that Iran would not be able to produce a nuclear bomb before 2015 and that Israel should not rush into military confrontation thus undermining the two men’s enthusiasm about Iran attack. But this briefing didn’t matter with them. Barak's political-security chief at the Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, was quick to warn that the Iranian timetable is even shorter. Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, who retires next month, believed that "initiating a war will only bring disaster upon Israel" and won Netanyahu's "promise that his view would be heard," the Haaretz daily said. Citing professional considerations, Barak announced last April that Ashkenazi's four-year term would not be extended by a year, as is customary. The defense minister named Yoav Galant, the general in charge of Israel's Gaza front, to succeed him.Barak, Netanyahu A Binary United on Iran Attack
