Could Israel have gotten more than $38 billion in security aid?

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak recently stated that the security aid package — the Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU — signed by the United States and Israel is lousy. Then, in the very midst of yet another combative interview given by Barak to the media Sept. 15, he was asked by presenter Yonit Levy on Channel 2 if his assessment is based on concrete information transmitted to him. Barak answered as if brushing aside an annoying fly: “I have been dealing with this for 30 years from close up, in all the negotiations except for those of the last three years. ... I know exactly how people in Israel and Washington think, and I know that we could have received 4.5 billion [dollars a year for 10 years] and much deeper contact with American intelligence regarding keeping tabs on Iran. Also, [we could have gotten] practical dialogue with [US President Barack Obama] on possible sanctions [against Iran] and even the military option. All this was on the table.”

Levy’s question was a valid one, and the answer given by the former prime minister did not exactly convince the observer that Barak has inside information.

The general sentiment provoked by his words was that Barak may have a political agenda. In recent months, Barak has been sending out signals that he wants to enter the ring again and compete for the premiership.

In fact, on Sept. 15 the local media outlets quoted from Barak’s op-ed in the Washington Post in which he slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for irresponsible behavior vis-a-vis the Obama administration, including acts that undermined Israeli security. Since then, Barak has taken out the big guns to take potshots at the prime minister. In a Boston studio, Barak was interviewed by all the Israeli television and radio stations and explained his rather complex and tortuous theory about how Netanyahu could have received another $7 billion in the aid agreement (or $45 billion instead of $38 billion).