Likud party officials on Sunday accused former Prime Minister Ehud Barak of incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Barak compared Netanyahu to communist-era Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who ruled his country with brutal force for more than two decades before being executed in late 1989.
"Those who brought Netanyahu to power are those who will remove him. Netanyahu is pushing the country to its destruction and downfall by way of an extremist, messianic and racist minority," Barak said at a cultural event in Tel Aviv titled "Public Introspection at 70 Years for Israel."
"Netanyahu's moral collapse is giving birth to laws whose sole purpose is to help the prime minister evade the corruption and breach of trust investigations against him," Barak said.
"The law to block police recommendations, the law to prevent publishing reasons for closing a case, and the French law and the law for tax benefits are all vulgar, calculated obstructions of the principle of equality before the law.
"This is an expression of ethical degradation that is no longer about helping the people but about the worship of a seemingly corrupt leader. Our story is more reminiscent of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu than of being an exemplary society and a light upon the nations. … The nation and the citizens who raised Netanyahu to power are those who will remove him from a government that is disgracing the people and citizens. The power is with the people and they will put an end to this disgrace."
In response, the Likud party issued a statement saying, "With each passing day, Ehud Barak reveals himself as a delusional crackpot. His comments against Prime Minister Netanyahu are tantamount to incitement to murder. Barak has simply lost his mind."
