Story highlights Barak says Benjamin Netanyahu's government is not interested in a two-state solution

The government responds that the Palestinians do not want to negotiate

New York (CNN) A former Israeli prime minister has accused Benjamin Netanayhu's government of consciously dragging the country toward a one-state solution that threatens the very essence of Zionism.

They "are interested basically in continuation, extrapolation of the present situation," Ehud Barak told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview, "which is a one-state, or headed toward a one-state solution, against all the declarations for the opposite."

It is "a hidden agenda" he said, masked by lip service paid to the two-state solution that has long been accepted by the United States and the rest of the international community as the basis for any eventual resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

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Barak, a former general and chief of the armed services, served as defense minister for nearly six years - first under Ehud Olmert and then four years under Netanyahu. He was prime minister from 1999 to 2001.

"I don't underestimate Netanyahu. He's a serious person; he was elected more than once. He tries to do what he believes is good for Israel."

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