An Israeli plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities in 2011 was scrapped because then-Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon (currently Minister of Defense) and then-Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz (currently Energy Minister) had a last minute change of heart, former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview, excerpts of which were aired by Channel 2 on Friday.

According to Barak, the plan was formulated between 2009 and 2010, when he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believed an attack must be launched before the Iranians spread out their nuclear facilities or build them deep enough underground as to render an attack ineffective.

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According to Barak, Netanyahu promised him and then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that Ya'alon and Steinitz were behind the plan. But then, during a crucial meeting of Israel's top security officials, they got cold feet: "The chief of staff presents all the issues, all the difficulties, all the complication, all the complexities and the problems, including the possibility of casualties, and we could see how Bogie (Ya'alon) and Steinitz were melting," Barak said.

"These are the same Bogie and Steinitz who, if you ask the public, are the most militant when it comes to an attack on Iran. If they hadn't changed their minds, it would have created a majority of five or six within the government who think it can be done, and then it's possible that we would have convened the government to make a decision, and then the mission would have gone forward," he said.