ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER Ehud Barak has announced that he is quitting political life and plans to retire after the next government is formed in the new year.
With Israel to hold elections in January, Barak said that he intended to retire from politics once a new government is formed in what is being viewed as a surprise move.
“I have decided to resign from political life and not participate in the upcoming Knesset elections,” Barak said at a surprise press conference in Tel Aviv.
The Jerusalem Post says that Barak had planned to announce his decision earlier but the recent Israeli action in the Gaza Strip had delayed his announcement of the decision until today.
“I have exhausted politics and I want to dedicate more time to my family,” he said according to the paper.
Barak formerly served as Prime Minister of Israel between March 1999 and March 2001 having been one of the most decorated soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces where he was chief of staff.
There had been rumours that Barak planned to form a new political party with the former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni having already split from the Labor Party last year to head the Independence party, the Times of Israel reports.
That party is unlikely to garner more than three seats in the upcoming elections for the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, according to polls.
- with reporting from AFP
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