Ehud Barak
Ehud BarakFlash 90

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has announced his decision to close the investigation against former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The case was based on a recording in which former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is heard saying that Barak received benefits while serving as an elected official.

Weinstein made his decision after reviewing the police findings and recommendations, as well as the state prosecutor's recommendation. Both sets of recommendations agreed that there was not sufficient evidence for a criminal case against Barak.

During the recording, which was made without Olmert's knowledge, the former Prime Minister said that Barak "takes bribes worth millions and tens of millions" and that he hides the money "in Switzerland or somewhere." However, investigators have concluded that there is no proof of the claim.

Barak, who served as Defense Minister and the IDF Chief of Staff in addition to Prime Minister, was the subject of another scandal as well, after he was accused of revealed classified information. In this incident, he told his biographers that Israel could have attacked the Iranian nuclear facilities in 2011, but that then-Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon and then-FInance Minister Yuval Steinitz rejected the plan.

Then, too, Weinstein rejected the call for a criminal investigation.