Free Republic

An arrest warrant concerning the 2010 attack on the Gaza-bound aid ship Mavi Marmara was issued last week against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and seven current and former government officials, news outlets reported Monday.Netanyahu could be arrested if he sets foot on Spanish soil.Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, former defense minister Ehud Barak, former interior minister Eli Yishai, former intelligence minister Dan Meridor, current defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, minister Bennie Begin and former head of the Navy Eliezer Marom were also named in the warrants filed by Judge Jose de la Mata of Spain’s National Court, according to the...

On Oct. 10, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey's spy agency Milli Istihbarat Teskilati, or MIT, has been the "driving force behind [Turkey's] efforts to supply the rebels and topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad." Consequently, Fidan "has tilted the interests of the longtime U.S. ally in ways sometimes counter to those of the U.S," the report stated. According to the WSJ article, Fidan, who was once lauded by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erodgan as "my secret-keeper," had in 2010 provided Iran with "sensitive intelligence" collected by the US and Israel. "U.S. officials believe...

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrives in Jeddah next Monday, May 12, to attend a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council defense ministers, the first for an American defense chief in six years. This prolonged absence reflected the Obama administration’s military disengagement from Middle East affairs and the political estrangement that ensued between Washington and the region. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak commented in a lecture Thursday, May 8, at the Washington Institute for the Near East: ”The American administration changed its objective from no nuclear military Iran to no nuclear military Iran during the term of this administration.”...

No devotee of Yes Minister, yesteryear’s BBC’s classic, can forget St. Edward’s Hospital – that spanking new cutting edge facility that had no patients or medical personnel. Nonetheless, St. Edward’s hustled and bustled, a veritable hive of activity and creative energy. For 15-months since its much-ballyhooed inauguration, an administrative staff of 500 bureaucrats filled the hospital’s offices, pushed papers and generated red tape. Sounds exaggerated? A bit over-the-top for real life? Not really. John Kerry’s peace project, for example, replicates the parody’s blueprints with mind-blowing precision. It is for diplomacy what St. Edward’s was for health care – an incredible...

This is ‘very grave if true,’ says senior MK, calling it ‘classic espionage’ that Israel would not carry out against the US US intelligence not only spied on then-defense minister Ehud Barak’s offices during 2008-2009, but also maintained an apartment opposite Barak’s primary residence for that purpose, according to a report on Sunday, which came amid new revelations of the extent of US and British intelligence activity against Israel and other allies. In 2007, Israeli intelligence noted that the US government had rented an apartment across the street from Barak’s high-rise apartment in Tel Aviv, and observed “sizable amounts of...

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference next Monday, it has been confirmed. His speech comes just ahead of President Obama's anticipated visit to Israel later in the month and amid renewed concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The 2013 conference, which will be held March 3-5, in Washington, D.C., will also feature addresses by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, House of Representatives, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), House of Representatives Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD),...

Monday’s resignation of Defense Minister Ehud Barak is another crack in the foundations of the center-left, which has been in a state of denial ever before the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and other Jewish communities in Gaza and northern Samaria in 2005. Buoyed by a largely center-left Israeli and foreign media, which have done all but openly campaign against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Labor and Kadima parties have been grasping a dead limb that props up Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as a “peace partner.” The center-left parties feed themselves on feeling good over support of the...

Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Monday that he is resigning from politics and will not contend in the upcoming Knesset election. He will complete his term as defense minister, he said. Barak stated that while he had difficulties making the decision, he was confident in his choice. “I want to study, to write to live and have a good time,” he said. … The minister denied making the decision based on grim polls results ahead of the Knesset election. He further joked that he is following the footsteps of Likud Minister Moshe Kahlon, who recently announced he is taking a...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday abruptly announced he was quitting politics, injecting new turmoil into the Israeli political system weeks ahead of general elections. Barak, Israel's most-decorated soldier and one-time prime minister, said he would stay on in his current post until a new government is formed following the Jan. 22 balloting.

DM Ehud Barak told Israel Army Radio that the 1,500 targets hit by the IAF have made it clear to Hamas that any violation of the ceasefire will extract a price not worth paying. Reservist call-up was necessary. We had to be ready for an escalation that would justify a ground incursion. ....

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has agreed to give formal recognition to the purchase of Hevron's Peace House by Jews, and has instructed the Civil Administration accordingly. However, this does not necessarily mean that the residents of the house will be allowed to live in it anytime soon. Barak's decision follows a September 13 decision by Jerusalem's District Court to approve the sale of the house to Tal Construction and Investments – Karnei Shomron. Barak's bureau announced that the decision was reached after consultations with the Attorney General and Government Legal Advisor, and with the military administration of Judea and Samaria....

DM Ehud Barak and PM Benjamin Netanyahu met Saturday night in an attempt to clear the air of the tension that has been brewing for the past few days and for Netanyahu to get a grasp on what exactly happened during Barak's most recent official visit...

Naftali Bennet, a candidate for leadership of the Jewish Home party, said Tuesday that he agrees with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Defense Minister Ehud Barak is making trouble between Israel and the United States. “The behavior of Ehud Barak, who creates crises in order to be the one to fix them, is known,” he said. “The question is, why isn’t Netanyahu fixing the crisis-maker and freeing us from the damage done by Ehud Barak?” Bennet continued. “Netanyahu must take charge and fire the Defense Minister, not be a political analyst in the matter of crises created ...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is claiming that Defense Minister Ehud Barak is trying to spark conflict between Israel and the United States. The two have been close confidants, with Barak, a left of center politician, originally giving Netanyahu legitimacy in the U.S. as a man of balance politically. Barak was Netanyahu's superior officer during their IDF service. According to Arutz 2, during a meeting Tuesday between the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Netanyahu revealed signs of mistrust and conflict between himself and his defense minister, saying Barak went to the U.S. to stir up trouble, with intentions...

Foreign Minister Lieberman has not ruled out the possibility of a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from much of Judea and Samaria, Yisrael Hayom reports. Lieberman’s stance - as expressed in closed-door meetings - was compared to that of Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also raised the possibility of a major withdrawal in the region. Lieberman, however, conditioned his approval for a withdrawal on two things: that Israel’s security interests would not be harmed, and that the international community would recognize the move as legitimate. He rejected the idea, raised by Barak, that Israelis living in areas affected...

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has proposed a unilateral withdrawal from most of Judea and Samaria, with tens of thousands of Jews outside of population centers in Judea and Samaria to leave or remain under a Palestinian Authority government. He issued the suggestion of another one-sided move in an interview with the Yisrael HaYom newspaper. Excerpts were published Monday and the full interview will be published Tuesday, the day before Yom Kippur. Jews in Ariel, located in Samaria (Shomron), Maaleh Adumim -- a large city between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea -- and in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, would remain...

Tensions between Israel and the current U.S. administration further deteriorated last week when President Barack Obama refused to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly. The White House insisted that the meeting would not take place due to the president’s pressing “campaign obligations” which would take him out of New York. Obama has further snubbed Israeli leaders by refusing to meet with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who will also be in New York next week, WND news station reported.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak spoke by telephone to his Egyptian counterpart Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday morning, according to Arabic-language news agency Al-Hayat. According to the report, al-Sisi affirmed Egypt's commitment to maintaining the 1979 Camp David peace treaty with Israel in the phone call, ahead of a meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy. The report comes over speculation that relations with Egypt could break down over an Egyptian military build-up for counter-terror operations in Sinai, and Morsy's plan to attend the Non-Aligned Movement's conference taking place in Tehran at the end of the month. The conference marks the...

MK Danny Danon (Likud) on Friday called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to intervene and complete the process of recognizing the Ariel University Center in the Shomron as a full-fledged university. Danon’s call came following reports that Defense Minister Ehud Barak has been delaying the announcement of Ariel’s recognition as a university for over three weeks. The Judea and Samaria Council for Higher Education (CHE-JS) has already decided to recognize Ariel as a university, but final approval needs to come from the IDF, which has legal authority over Judea and Samaria. “This delay is unacceptable,” said Danon, who noted that...

Defense minister says Obama most supportive president of Israeli security; Panetta to arrive to press Israel to give sanctions time. In what appears like a clear endorsement of a presidential candidate, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday night that Barack Obama has been the most supportive president on matters of Israeli security throughout the two countries' diplomatic relations. In an interview aired late Monday night on CNN, Barak told Wolf Blitzer that the Obama administration’s support of Israeli defense and intelligence establishments was far greater than under any other administration he remembered working with since and including President Jimmy Carter....