Former prime minister Ehud Barak criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war in Lebanon in an interview with 103FM on Tuesday.
"This government is misleading the public, Netanyahu is just counting bodies," Barak said.
"They didn't kill 800 terrorists, nor 400 terrorists - it's all nonsense. While funerals were being held, Netanyahu claimed we were dealing Hezbollah a crushing blow and pushing the terror organization back decades. It's pathetic, an illusion," he added.
The former PM addressed an array of burning issues in Israeli politics, especially concerning Hezbollah, in light of directives coming from the White House and US President Donald Trump.
According to Barak, "The Israeli public is being deceived when told that if we were just freed from the constraints of 'this strange Trump,' we could rise up once and for all and destroy Hezbollah. There is no such thing."
Concerns that IDF Lebanon entry has little effect on defeating Hezbollah
In Barak's view, Israel cannot destroy Hezbollah without occupying Lebanon - an idea he deems impractical. He further claimed that Israel is squandering the current opportunity in Lebanon. "We are flattening villages and signaling that we intend to stay there permanently."
"Through this move, we think we are weakening Hezbollah, but the exact opposite is true, because they suddenly gain a major, legitimate role within Lebanon," he said.
Iran-Hezbollah building axis across Middle East, Barak says
Barak added that Iran and Hezbollah are backed by "a very strong axis, including Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, who have formed an alliance with Qatar and are pressuring Trump far more effectively than we are."
"This government has dragged us into the gravest diplomatic and security situation in the country's history and is gaslighting the public while the IDF is stretched to its absolute limit," he continued.
Regarding ground operations in Lebanon, Barak said: "There is a deep concern that entering there has nothing to do with practical objectives."
"The real question about the withdrawal from Lebanon is not why it happened in 2000, but why it didn't happen 15 years earlier. Hezbollah grew and expanded precisely because we stayed inside Lebanon," he added.
'Bennett, Eisenkot incomparably better than Netanyahu,' Barak says
Barak concluded by naming the candidates he believes should replace Netanyahu in the upcoming elections, pointing to Naftali Bennett and Gadi Eisenkot as those who can finally step into the shoes of the incumbent prime minister.
"This government doesn't understand that wars always have to end; war is just a means to achieve a diplomatic, political solution. That is why either Bennett or Eisenkot, both of them, are incomparably better than Netanyahu," he stated.