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Ehud Barak pleads for uniting forces to defeat Likud

Ahead of the upcoming elections, Ehud Barak called for a bloc of parties to defeat the Likud government but denied any particular interest in leading it. 

By Jack Gold, World Israel News

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak gave an indication about his future plans regarding the upcoming elections during an interview on Monday with Israel Radio, saying that “if we all act correctly, on April 10 Netanyahu will go in peace and the State of Israel will embark on a different path – a re-emergence of the original Zionist vision.”

Barak hinted that he might join as a secondary political player in the center-left bloc. “I or others must not make ourselves a condition for the establishment of the bloc,” meaning that he did not demand to be its leader.

“In serious studies, you will find that if a bloc is formed that includes the Zionist Camp, parties led by [Former IDF COS Benny] Ganz and [Former IDF COS Moshe] Bogi [Yaalon] and possibly other bodies, headed by a person who can win elections and then lead the country, he will win,” Barak claimed.

“The most important thing is not who will be the largest party, but whether all three or four will get 61 seats,” he explained. “All parties or party leaders must overcome their ego, and understand that they must take into account the possibility that they will not lead the bloc.”

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Barak emphasized that “it is so important to me that this bloc arise that I am putting myself at this stage on the side, that I must not make myself a condition for the establishment of the bloc, because then it will not arise.”

Barak, who served as Netanyahu’s defense minister, has displayed loathing for the prime minister and led several visceral public attacks against him.

The Likud party, led by Netanyahu and slated to win according to the latest polls, responded to the interview by stating that “the Israeli public rightly kicked Ehud Barak with a one-way ticket, and the most failed prime minister in Israel’s history will watch the upcoming elections on television.”