Barak slams Netanyahu for breaking Israel ambiguity on Syria

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is attacking the country's current leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, for breaking with Israel's ambiguity over its strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.

Barak's comments on Monday came a day after Netanyahu's abrupt confession that Israel had struck hundreds of Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent years, including a weapons facility over the weekend.

Israel has generally refrained from commenting about its covert activities for fear of triggering a reaction and being drawn into the deadly fighting in neighboring Syria's civil war.

Barak, a former military chief, told Israel's Army Radio that "exposing it was completely unnecessary" and increased the chances of a deterioration.

He insinuated that Netanyahu's considerations in doing so may have been political ahead of Israel's upcoming April election.