BREAKING NEWS

Barak responds to Knesset criticism over IDF cancellations

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday responded to criticism from the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee that he prevented senior IDF officers from appearing before it. Barak said that the civilian leadership is supposed to protect the military ranks, not to demand their presence in the Knesset for political issues like the "Fayyad Plan."
He said that other officials, like the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the director-general of the Defense Ministry or minister of homeland security should be invited for such discussions..
If needed, Barak added, he would be willing to appear in front of the Knesset himself in order to answer their political questions but asserted that it is not the role of military leadership to do so.