Ehud Barak Warns Netanyahu Could Try to Sabotage Elections, Calls U.S.-Iran Deal ‘Very Bad’

In a Sunday morning interview on Kan News radio’s "This Morning," former Prime Minister Ehud Barak launched an unusually harsh attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that if Netanyahu tried to sabotage elections, "there will be no choice but to drive him out with sticks and stones." Barak said such a scenario would be easy to carry out and sketched a chain of events in which a security incident in Nabatieh would trigger an Israeli response in the Dahieh, which in turn could lead to a full-scale war with Iran and the cancellation of elections.

Barak also focused on the emerging understandings between the United States and Iran, calling the deal in two words, "very bad." He said Israel is now paying the price for what he described as Netanyahu’s arrogance, blindness and past attempts to manipulate President Donald Trump. In his view, the draft agreement addresses only the nuclear issue, while ignoring Iran’s missile threat and the activity of its regional proxies, leaving Israel with "zero influence" over events, which he called a tragedy.

He said the regional balance of power has shifted over the past year, with a wide gap between tactical successes and strategic outcomes. Although Iran has suffered major blows in recent months, Barak argued it has emerged stronger domestically, regionally and internationally. Israel, by contrast, achieved impressive gains after its initial recovery from the October 7 attacks, but ultimately ended the campaign in a weaker position.

Barak concluded that none of the war’s main goals against Iran were achieved. He said the main objective, even if never formally announced, was the collapse of the Tehran regime, and that this did not happen. He added that the second goal, destroying Iran’s nuclear program, also failed completely, saying the program remains "alive, breathing and kicking."