‘In the name of God, go’, ex-PM tells Netanyahu

Mr Barak looks and sounds at the age of 81 every bit the wise, elder statesman that many people believe the country craves right now. He blames Mr Netanyahu for rejecting the “explicit demand coming from the inner Cabinet” to discuss an exit plan and for failing to consider “everything that should have happened three months ago” in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on southern Israel. There have been leaders, he says, like the country’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, or others who followed like Yitzhak Rabin, who rose to the top and tried to stay there by placing Israel’s best interests at heart. “Netanyahu,” says Mr Barak, “does it for a more personal kind of devotion to himself.” Mr Netanyahu, 74, has been Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having been defeated by and then in turn defeated Mr Barak more than 20 years ago. “I compare them to the Proud Boys in America,” says Mr Barak, adding: “Imagine if in the US one of them had become secretary to the treasury and the other put in charge of homeland security.