Ehud Barak: Netanyahu sits on Knesset's neck like cop on George Floyd's
The former prime minister also Netanyahu is to blame for his name being involved with Jeffrey Epstein.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIEhud Barak(photo credit: CORINNA KERN/REUTERS)
Former prime minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday morning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to blame for Barak’s name getting involved in the numerous allegations revolving around alleged sex trafficker, the late Jeffrey Epstein, during an interview with Israel’s 103FM. He additionally said that Netanyahu is sitting on the neck of the Knesset “just as the white police officer did on the neck of George Floyd.”When asked about the allegations of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, he said, “Not only have I never met her, but in the Netflix documentary that was very comprehensive, my name was not mentioned once,” Barak said. “This woman, according to the documentary, moved to Australia in 2002. In that year, I did not meet Epstein yet, and she was already in Australia, and so it’s not even possible.”Barak then questioned how anyone who outwardly opposes Netanyahu finds themselves tangled up in an attempt to “tarnish” their reputations. He then clarified that he believed Netanyahu to be involved in the matter, stating that “just like the matter with Gantz’s phone” in which the defense minister’s private mobile was hacked, “Netanyahu’s surroundings are also involved in this matter, in this entire subject of attempting to smear my name.”He then turned his criticism upon Netanyahu amid his indictment for fraud, bribery and breach of trust, stating that he cannot see how such a man “could manage a country without a conflict of interests.”“Everything he does facing the police, the Defense Ministry and the Justice Ministry is a conflict of interests,” Barak explained. “In the same week that you report the extent of unemployment, and the crushing of small businesses and family programs and the violence that erupts as a result, in that same week there is an outbreak of piggishness that cannot be described and loss of shame and you see a system that is not ashamed of anything. Netanyahu and his gang are sitting on the Knesset’s neck just as the white police officer did on the neck of George Floyd, and the next victim to that fate is the justice system.”He also addressed the recent arrest of former Brig.-Gen. Amir Haskel, along with two others who protested outside the Prime Minister’s Residence. “The police is led by [Public Security Minister Amir] Ohana. I hope this was not a wink regarding the issue of appointing a chief of police, which is still open. It is conducted in a completely unreasonable manner and it is very good that the judge shook them off and returned [Haskel].”Barak clarified that he knows Haskel from the army, saying that he is a “very serious man” and expressed shock that the police believe they could scare such a man away.Barak was asked if he had funded the black flag protests where Haskel had been arrested, to which he responded, “I am not behind the funding, but I help them with anything that is possible.”Maariv contributed to this report.
