Short answer: Yes, Ehud Barak supports Israel as a state, though as one of the country's most vocal critics of Netanyahu's government. As of August 2026, he is a former Israeli prime minister and IDF chief of staff who has spent decades in national leadership and continues to publicly argue for Israel's security and for a two-state resolution he says is necessary to keep Israel both Jewish and democratic. He has also faced sustained domestic criticism over his past personal ties to Jeffrey Epstein, which he addressed in February 2026.
What Ehud Barak has actually said and done
1991-1995: Barak served as IDF Chief of the General Staff, capping a 35-year military career that included command of the elite Sayeret Matkal unit. He is Israel's most decorated soldier, according to Britannica.
1999-2001: He served as Israel's prime minister, pursuing peace negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria, including the 2000 Camp David Summit, as Britannica notes.
February 25, 2023: At a Tel Aviv protest, Barak said Netanyahu's judicial overhaul amounted to "an assassination of the Declaration of Independence," positioning himself as a leading voice of the anti-overhaul movement, as reported at the time by The Times of Israel. A month later he laid out the argument at length in Foreign Policy.
June 12, 2023: As protests were losing momentum, he urged Israelis to escalate to nonviolent civil disobedience against the judicial overhaul, per JNS.
November 2023: At the Halifax International Security Forum, following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Barak said Israel had to keep fighting Hamas in Gaza until its military capacity was destroyed, telling the forum "we have to finish it," as reported by CBC.
September 5, 2024: Barak testified before Israel's civilian October 7 inquiry commission that Netanyahu bore central responsibility for the strategic failures that allowed the Hamas attack, citing the government's treatment of Hamas as a manageable "asset" and its refusal to plan for post-war Gaza governance, according to the Jerusalem Post.
February 12-13, 2026: Following release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, Barak told Channel 12 that he regretted meeting Epstein in 2003 and maintaining ties with him after Epstein's 2008 conviction, calling it a lapse of judgment. He has not been implicated in Epstein's sexual abuse crimes, reported both the Times of Israel and NBC News.
July 7, 2026: Barak accused Netanyahu of having "no restraints at all," alleging he sabotaged hostage-release deals to keep the Gaza war going for political survival, and warned the government's defiance of High Court rulings signaled worse to come, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Understanding Barak's role and criticism
Ehud Barak (born February 12, 1942) is a career Israeli military and political leader: a 35-year IDF veteran, the country's most decorated soldier, IDF chief of staff from 1991 to 1995, and prime minister from 1999 to 2001 as head of the Labor Party. His public identity is inseparable from Israeli state service and Jewish national leadership. He is not a diaspora commentator but a former head of the Israeli government itself.
Since leaving office, Barak has remained one of Israel's most prominent public figures and among the sharpest domestic critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He argues that Netanyahu's policies, including his approach to Hamas before October 7, 2023, and his conduct of the Gaza war and hostage negotiations afterward, have weakened rather than protected Israel. Barak's criticism is explicitly framed as pro-Israel: he argues from within, positioning judicial independence, decisive action against Hamas, and eventual separation from the Palestinians as necessary to preserve Israel as both a Jewish and a democratic state. He has repeatedly warned that continued control over a large Palestinian population without a political resolution risks Israel's democratic character.
In February 2026, newly released Epstein files renewed scrutiny of Barak's past personal relationship with Epstein, including stays at a New York apartment Epstein owned and a recorded conversation containing remarks about demographics that were widely criticized as offensive. Barak said in his Channel 12 interview that he regretted the relationship and should have exercised better judgment; he has not been accused of participating in or having knowledge of Epstein's abuse of minors. Some political opponents have since invoked the Epstein association to attack his credibility when he criticizes the government, an illustration of how contentious a figure he remains in current Israeli politics. That controversy concerns his personal judgment and associations, not his stance toward the State of Israel.
The bottom line
Ehud Barak is a lifelong Israeli military and political leader, IDF chief of staff and prime minister, who continues, through mid-2026, to engage intensively in Israeli public life. He argues for Israel's security and for a two-state resolution he frames as essential to Israel's survival as a Jewish, democratic state. He is a fierce critic of Netanyahu's government specifically, not of Israel itself, and that domestic criticism, along with the 2026 Epstein-ties controversy over his personal judgment, should not be read as opposition to Israel.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
