Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak denounced his successor, Ariel Sharon, as corrupt and unelectable. Speaking Monday to the Knesset television channel, Barak, who is running anew for the Labor Party leadership, said that Sharon and his sons, Omri and Gilad, are “corrupt to the core,” adding, “In a civilized country, given such an accumulation of scandals, Sharon would give up his post and resign.”

The Sharon family has been dogged by several funding scandals during the past few years, but the prime minister has emerged unscathed and is strong in the polls. Nonetheless, Barak, who lost to Sharon in the 2001 election, predicted the incumbent would not be re-elected. Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office dismissed the criticism as sour grapes from a former premier who also was accused of funding improprieties while in office.

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