In a striking criticism from within Israel’s own political establishment, former Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said claims that Iran is on the verge of collapse do not, in his view, reflect the real balance of power.
Barak directly attacked the rhetoric of Trump and Netanyahu, describing the claim that Iran is about to fall as
“empty talk.”
He added that over the past five years, they have failed to push Tehran back even
“a few steps.”
From an Axis of Resistance perspective, Barak’s remarks are significant because they come from a man who once led both the Israeli government and its military establishment. His point is clear: years of sanctions, strikes, assassinations and political pressure have not produced the collapse that was repeatedly promised to the Israeli public.
His sharpest accusation was directed at Netanyahu, whom Barak said is making decisions not solely according to Israel’s national interests, but also according to his own political survival — including efforts to delay elections and remain in power.
That raises a question propaganda cannot easily answer:
If Iran is truly
“on the verge of collapse,”
why do Israel and Washington still require such extensive military deployments, economic pressure and regional alliances to confront it?
Barak is certainly no defender of Tehran. But his remarks expose a clear gap between Israeli political rhetoric and the assessment of some of its own former senior officials: Iran is under pressure, yes — but it is not the state that was supposedly going to collapse tomorrow.