Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak closed a long and critical essay for Ynet with, “Bravado and empty rhetoric is not the way to proceed and will only make Israel weaker and minimize its ability to act in self-defense. We must all expect more from this ‘coalition of change.'”

Barak's Dec. 5 editorial regarding Israeli policy toward the Iranian nuclear threat was aimed mainly at Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Barak criticized the conduct of government leaders on the Iranian issue in light of the failing and worrisome nuclear talks in Vienna and the tension he said the government is creating with the United States. 

He wrote, “Israel must make the best of a bad situation, and there is an urgent need for strong cooperation with Washington to achieve common goals, such as preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold state. This is no time for public disagreement and a mutual blame game that will be nothing more than an embarrassment, and enable no sober political position backed by military or other means.”

The essay infuriated Bennett and his associates. A source close to Bennett told Ynet, “There are former officials who need to give up the tendency to automatically assume the position of the American government and act as its spokespeople.”