Ya'alon: Barak like snakes in Kirya base
Vice premier launches unprecedented attack on defense minister on backdrop of heated race for position of IDF chief. Addressing Barak's testimony to committee probing flotilla raid, Ya'alon says, 'He didn't let anyone get involved and now he's shifting responsibility on everyone'
Speaking at a closed forum in a private home in the central city of Ness Ziona, Ya'alon said that "the events of the past week emphasize what I have been saying about the snakes in the Kirya base (the IDF and defense minister's headquarters)."
"The defense minister didn't let anyone get involved, and now he is shifting responsibility on everyone," Ya'alon said, echoing Netanyahu's testimony to the Turkel Committee, which is probing the May 31 flotilla raid.
According to the vice premier, like Netanyahu said, the ministers had only discussed the media aspects of the operation to stop the flotilla. "The seven-minister forum did not discuss the alternative. We discussed PR aspects." 
Barak talks to Turkel Committee (Photo: Mark Israel Salem)
During the flotilla raid, Netanyahu was on an official visit to Canada, and Yaalon filled in for him. "During the incident I held the title of acting prime minister, but wasn't the prime minister in practice," he said.
Several days after the flotilla raid, Ya'alon admitted that the takeover of the Turkish-owned Marmara ship was a failure, saying that "in a place where citations should have been given, someone failed to prepare a standard operating procedure."
Speaking during a meeting with council heads from the Likud party, Ya'alon had said that "the decision was right, but there is room for improvement –and I am not going to elaborate."
Despite the criticism, the vice premier had praised the commandos who took over the Gaza-bound flotilla. "The fighting on the deck was heroic and took place under impossible conditions," he said, while adding that "there were some malfunctions during the planning and operational stages."
Exchanging accusations
Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi testified before the Turkel Committee this week. Netanyahu shifted the responsibility on Barak, who shifted it on the army. The chief of staff had no choice but to take responsibility.
Barak told the committee that he takes responsibility for the flotilla affair, but shifted it on the IDF. According to the defense minister, the decision to stop the Marmara ship was right, but the performance lacked.
He contradicted Netanyahu's testimony, clarifying that the ministers discussed both the military aspect and the media aspect of the operation. "All the alternatives were raised," he said.
"Obviously, the political echelon cannot assign tasks that cannot be carried out. In the case in question the military echelon did not say it cannot be carried out. They said, 'It will be difficult, but will do it.' They did not say how it should be done, and rightfully so.
"They said there would be distressing images, but they did not say it couldn’t be done and they even said the opposite." According to Barak, "If the decision was right, then the gap between what we wanted and what happened is the execution."
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