This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be removed “with sticks and stones” if he attempts to undermine the upcoming general election, Anadolu reports.
Barak, who served as Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001, made the remarks in an interview with Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.
“I fear Netanyahu may try to sabotage the elections, and he can do it very easily,” Barak said. “If he tries, we will have no choice but to remove him with sticks and stones.”
Netanyahu, 76, has led the current government since late December 2022. His coalition has been widely described as the most right-wing since Israel was established on Palestinian territories in 1948.
The Knesset’s current term expires in October 2026, with elections expected to be held in September or October.
Barak argued that Netanyahu “could sabotage the elections by launching operations in Lebanon that would provoke retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran.
“Netanyahu wants an endless war because he understands that ending it would accelerate his trial,” Barak said. “Just as he obstructed some prisoner-exchange deals (with Hamas), he also blocked the possibility of progress in Lebanon.”
READ: Netanyahu’s Likud drops to lowest level since August 2025, poll shows
Netanyahu is currently standing trial in Israel on corruption charges and is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2024 on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Barak also criticized the emerging agreement between the US and Iran. “In one word: bad. In two words: very bad,” he said.
He warned that “Israel is paying the price for Netanyahu’s arrogance and lack of foresight,” adding that the arrangement under discussion was “not an agreement, but a memorandum of understanding that failed to address either missiles or Iran’s regional allies.”
Barak argued that “none of the objectives of the war against Iran have been achieved.”
The remarks drew immediate criticism from Netanyahu’s allies.
Boaz Bismuth, a Likud lawmaker and chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, called for a criminal investigation into Barak for what he described as legitimizing violence against the prime minister.
“He should be sent to a psychiatrist, and if he is found mentally fit, a criminal investigation should be opened against him immediately,” Bismuth said in a post on US social media company X.
While US President Donald Trump said an agreement with Iran that would open the Strait of Hormuz would be signed on Sunday, Tehran has disputed the timeline and says the signing could happen in the coming days.
Since the April 8 ceasefire mediated by Pakistan, efforts aimed at ending the war launched by the US and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28 have continued.
READ: Iran threatens to halt US negotiations if Israeli attacks continue in Lebanon
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- US claims 125 million barrels of oil escorted through Strait of Hormuz
- Trump says Israeli strike on Beirut ‘should not have happened’ amid Iran peace talks
- Ex-Israeli premier urges removal of Netanyahu ‘with sticks, stones’ if elections are sabotaged
- Trump’s Strategic Mistakes in His War Against Iran
- Iran threatens to halt US negotiations if Israeli attacks continue in Lebanon
- Israeli army kills 6 Palestinians, including child, in attacks across Gaza
- 3 killed as Israeli army launches airstrikes in Lebanese capital in new ceasefire violation
- US envoy ‘confident’ Iran deal to be signed on Sunday
- President of Somaliland breakaway region makes 1st visit to Israel, to open embassy in Jerusalem
- Red Cross warns thousands buried under Gaza rubble may never be identified
- My map is not ‘half-seen’, Karam Nama; it’s focused sharply
- Palestinian detainee dies after 25 years in Israeli prisons
- Revitalizing Indonesia’s economic diplomacy engine in the Middle East
- Pakistan, Egypt discuss regional developments ahead of possible US-Iran deal
- Iran’s final decision on memorandum with US is ‘under consideration’: Media
- Israeli ministers call for bombing Beirut despite ceasefire
- France’s Eastern Mediterranean energy strategy: Between commercial pragmatism and geopolitical ambition
- Hezbollah says it repelled 2 Israeli incursions, launched 19 attacks in southern Lebanon
- Emerging US-Iran deal fails to meet any of Israel’s war goals, says former prime minister
- Israel won’t withdraw from southern Lebanon under US-Iran understandings: Israeli media
- Protesters in Stockholm rally against Israeli attacks in Palestinian territories, Lebanon
- Israeli army claims to kill several Hezbollah members in Lebanon strikes
- Violations of US blockade on Iran ‘will not be tolerated,’ Rubio tells India’s top diplomat
- Iran says signing of memorandum of understanding with US ‘will not be tomorrow’
- When a brave journalist looks away: Iraq and Yvonne Ridley’s half‑seen map
- Iran to hold funeral for slain supreme leader on July 4-9
- Can the US host the World Cup while shutting out the Middle East?
- Pakistan says peace deal ‘closer than ever’, signing expected within 24 hours
- UK rights organisation calls on Business Secretary to cancel Israeli real estate event in London
- Israeli army kills Palestinian municipality worker in central Gaza
- Somali president accuses Israel of taking advantage of dispute with Somaliland
- Lebanon faces choice between ‘state monopoly on arms or militia influence’, says president
- Trump agreed to release $24B in frozen Iranian assets without formal announcement: Report
- Ben-Gvir raids Hebron neighborhood following Israeli curfew in occupied West Bank
- Iran’s foreign minister details proposed memorandum with US, says war would end across all fronts
- Canada announces $100M in new humanitarian aid for Palestinians
- The Iran war is exposing the limits of Gulf defence dependence
- Trump halts US military’s plan to forcibly seize Iran’s uranium: Report
- Iran says understandings reached on most issues in talks with US
- Palestinian Football Association president criticizes US over delayed visa for World Cup events
- When children become the primary casualties of wars and conflicts
- 72 arrested at London protest supporting Palestine Action activists
- Iraq foils plot to assassinate National Security Service chief, senior officers
- Trump calls Iranian foreign minister’s post on possible US-Iran deal ‘very positive’: Report
- US, Iran agree on peace deal’s ‘final text’ to end war: Pakistan
- Can Trump restrain Israel?
- Occupier violence in West Bank high on EU agenda, Kallas says
- Chile establishes senate friendship group to strengthen historic ties with Palestine
- Israel expanding Gaza ‘yellow line’ to derail ceasefire talks, says Hamas
- Turkish president says region paying ‘heavy economic price’ of attacks on Iran