Police in Israel have begun a probe into former Prime Minister Ehud Barak into incitement after he called on Israelis to engage in nationwide civil disobedience to force the government out of office this fall — in the middle of a war.
The Jewish News Syndicate reported:
Speaking at an anti-government protest rally in Tel Aviv late last month, Barak urged the thousands present to engage in “nonviolent civil noncompliance.”
When Israeli lawmakers return from their summer/High Holiday recess on Oct. 28, “the revolt must be extended to a mass strike around the parliament together with opposition leaders until the government falls,” he told the crowd.
Authorities told the Israeli human-rights organization B’tsalmo, which filed the complaint against Barak, that an investigation file was opened with the Tel Aviv police.
Barak, a leader in the protest movement against judicial reforms, was also probed last year.
Israel was deeply divided over the judicial reforms, but united after the October 7 attacks. However, political divisions began to reemerge, especially as Israelis agonized over the fate of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Anti-government protesters soon took up the cause of a hostage deal, arguing that the Netanyahu government lacks interest in the fate of the Israeli captives.
The former prime minister was the last from Israel’s Labor Party, known best for his efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in 2000 and 2001. Those efforts failed when Yasser Arafat rejected an agreements and launched the second intifada.
Since then, Barak has been a leading opposition figure, and beloved by left-wing critics of Israel abroad — though his stature has been dimmed somewhat by the disclosure of his friendship with the late sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Breitbart News noted last year: “Barak has been open about his role in Israel’s left-wing protests against judicial reforms that the newly-elected government promised to enact if it won last November’s elections, which it did. He has also been brazen about his goal, which is to topple Netanyahu’s government and force new elections, hoping the left would win them.”
The police are administered by far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir, who is the national security minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Asked about the probe on Tuesday, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer declined to comment.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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