CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - Defense Minister and Labor party chairman Ehud Barak said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni isn't capable of leading the country.

Two weeks after Barak agreed to join Livni's government, he said she's not qualified to be prime minister.

"Livni is honest and professional, but that's not enough to lead the country," Barak said.

"Tzipi failed at forming a government. A man like President Shimon Peres would have formed a government within three days," he said.

"I'm more careful. I would have formed a government in three weeks," he said.

"I formed a government when there was a majority against me in the Knesset, not when there were 70 MKs (members of Knesset) in favor as Livni had," Barak said.

Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner, a close friend of Livni's, responded to the defense minister's remarks.

"Forming a government is not a goal in itself," Plesner said. "Livni showed that even when she is a step away from the prime minister's office, it doesn't make her abandon her principles. That's the leadership she provides," he said.

Labor plans to elect its party's Knesset list on December 2, the same week Kadima will likely hold its primary to choose its slate.

Likud will hold its primaries the following week.

Source: The Jerusalem Post