Barak Says Opposition Should Put Replacing Netanyahu First in Coalition Talks

Former prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak said the opposition should give priority to replacing Benjamin Netanyahu when that goal conflicts with other commitments. In a November 2 morning interview with Gideon Oko and Amichai Atali, he argued for flexibility over the conditions for forming an alternative coalition. “The most important promise of the change bloc is to remove Netanyahu from power,” Barak said. He framed the issue as a choice between competing promises, arguing that a commitment should not take precedence if keeping it prevents the bloc from achieving that central objective. Barak also addressed Haredi military service. He assessed that the IDF could not absorb all Haredi recruits and emphasized employment integration and core studies as central issues. His remarks set out his view of the priorities for integrating the community; they did not announce a new conscription arrangement or an army decision on recruitment capacity. Discussing flexibility toward Arab-party support, Barak invoked Netanyahu’s previous contacts with Mansour Abbas to challenge objections to such cooperation. He also used hypothetical appointments to illustrate his argument about political consistency. Those examples were part of his case for reconsidering coalition conditions, rather than an announcement of appointments or a negotiated coalition agreement.