Ehud Barak
Ehud BarakFlash 90

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Tzahi Hanegbi (Likud) announced Sunday that he will probe whether information divulged by former Defense Minister Ehud Barak on a possible Iran strike was properly cleared for publication. 

He will also examine why such classified information was released to the public in the first place. 

According to Barak, Israel made a number of plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites between 2009 and 2012, but the plans were thwarted each time by either opposition in the cabinet or alleged IDF unpreparedness. 

Barak’s comments were made in recorded interviews with his biographers, Dani Dor and Ilan Kfir. The recordings, which were aired by Channel 2 News on Friday, were made available to the channel following the approval of the military censor.

Hanegbi asserted to Israel Radio on Sunday that publication of the information did not serve Israel's security interests, but refused to answer when asked if he believed Barak had harmed Israel's security. 

As head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Hanegbi did note he plans to summon officials from the IDF military censor's office and listen to their explanations. 

Apparently, Barak also did not want the material released, Channel 2 admitted, but could not prevent the military censor from approving the recordings for publication.