Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak apologized on Tuesday for the deaths of 13 Israeli Arabs during the riots of October 2000, which marked the outbreak of the Second Intifada. Barak was prime minister at the time.
"I take responsibility for everything that happened during my term as prime minister, including the events of [that] October. Demonstrators should not be killed by the security forces of their own country. I am expressing regret and apologizing to the families and to society," Barak said in an interview to Israel Radio.
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"I can be the one to come up with a solution [to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict]," Barak said.
Some think that Barak's statements aimed to lay the groundwork for his Israel Democratic Party to run in the September election on a joint ticket with the far-Left Meretz.
Last week, Meretz MK Esawi Frej attacked Barak, telling him, "Do us a favor – stop splitting the center-left. Go back to your luxury high-rise and let us do the work."
Frej said, "As an Arab, I will never forget the riots of October [2000]."
The Likud called Barak's apology "pathetic."
"His pathetic apology, which fooled no one, had only one purpose … to allow him to join up with Meretz. We are still waiting for Ehud Barak to apologize for having been the worst prime minister in the history of Israel, who ran away from Lebanon, left an IDF soldier to die, did nothing about the lynch [on IDF reservists] in Ramallah, [and] led us into the Intifada."
