Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom attacked Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday and said that his conduct had “crossed the line.”

Speaking to Army Radio, Shalom said that much of the tension between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Barak is due to the fact that Barak is trying to differentiate himself from the coalition. However, he said that as long as the elections are to be held early, there is no point in firing Barak from his position.