Ehud Barak
From AICbackground
Defense Minister of Israel
“The Palestinians are like crocodiles, the more you give them meat, they want more.” "[Building the country has many facets] - "immigration, a strong economy, the rule of law, the quality of life, and more ... [but these cannot be realized,] unless we know how to assure security, the integrity, and the opportunities for the free development of the State of Israel."
"From a professional military standpoint, as long as there is no peace we need every metre of the Golan Heights, and also at a time of peace we had better stay on the Golan Heights."
You were born in 1942 at the Mediterranean coastal Kibbutz (collective community) Mishmar Hasharon to East European immigrants. Your earliest memories are of Iraqi Army shells going off on farms just a few miles from your home during the 1948 war for Israel's independence. Your Hebrew surname means "lightning." You hold a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Hebrew University, you also earned a master's degree at Stanford University in California in computer systems analysis. You are married and you have three daughters. You have had a long and distinguished military career of 35 years. You enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces at the age of seventeen and have served in every major campaign military campaign during your tenure. You commanded a reconnaissance team in the Six Day war in 1967. During the Yom Kippur war in 1973 you commanded an armored battalion on the Sinai front. You also commanded the Israeli army in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley, which has remained under Israeli control since 1982.
You served as head of Planning Branch, chief of Military Intelligence, and OC central Command. You were promoted to major general in 1982. In 1983 you became Head of military intelligence, a post you held until 1986. You later became deputy Chief of Staff working under General Dan Shomron. In April 1,1991 you were promoted to the rank of Army Chief of Staff, the highest position in the Israeli army. You retired your position as Army Chief of Staff in January of 1995, after completing your term. You are the most decorated soldier in the military history of Israel. You were described as, "the most courageous Jewish soldier," by your country's legendary General, Moshe Dayan.
You are a daring veteran of undercover operations in the Mossad and commando groups for the past 30 years. In 1972 you took part in the storming of a Sabena jetliner that had been hijacked to Israel, in which 97 hostages were rescued. In 1973 you commanded a hit-team that assassinated 3 PLO leaders in Beirut apartments in revenge for Israeli athletes killed at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, Germany. In 1988 you orchestrated the assassination in Tunis of the PLO's top military strategist, Abu Jihad, considered by Israel to be the mastermind behind the Intifada, the Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories. As an officer in elite units throughout your career you took part in many operations still classified as secret.
The late Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was your mentor, good friend, and confidant. You entered the role of soldier turned statesman at his bequest when you first joined the labor party at the party's Central Committee meeting on July 17, 1995. Then on July 18 you became Israel's Minister of the Interior, under Prime Minister Rabin. On November 22, 1995 newly elected Prime Minister Shimon Peres appointed you as foreign minister to replace himself. You were seen then as a future Prime Minister, having a soldier statesman background and complementing Peres' more dovish qualities with your hawkish/military nature in the role of foreign minister. You are a man of military ideals. You seek peace as a member of the Labor government under Shimon Peres but you are always prepared for war. In general you see the quick withdraw of Israeli troops from occupied territories as risky.
You met with PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat for the first time In November 1995 and discussed the issues of keeping down uprisings in the occupied territories by Islamic fundamentalists. You both were optimistic but you have an innate uneasiness about the total withdrawal due to your role in containing the uprisings when they began. Having been appointed foreign minister you have been placed in the lead role to address peace with Syria, while Prime Minister Peres will most likely focus on the question of Palestinian peace process. Your appointment as foreign minister will thrust you in the fray on the Israeli/Syrian negotiations for security negotiations--you have wanted the task since last year, and are eager to begin. You realize that a continuing confrontation brought on by the stalemate between your two countries that something could spark militarily. You feel attack by Syria is militarily probable but realize that without a political framework to promote it, that the attack is questionable.
In a time of great political and domestic uncertainty in Israel you embody "clarity" and "precision", traits often lacking in Israeli politicians. You follow a long line of Generals turned political figures. Although you come from a military background you do not ignore the principles you see advancing Israel most, such as diplomacy and economics. In 1993 you helped broker a compromise to revive stalled peace talks with the Palestinians by permitting exiled Islamic fundamentalists to return from Lebanon. During your nearly four years as chief of staff you did not press for more military spending in addition you cut the number of days each year that Israeli's must perform military reserve duty. These decisions were based by you in part with a need to aid Israel's economy. Even as Rabin's close personal friend you both still had disagreements on certain issues. You objected to the terms of the final peace package with the PLO, you warned that transferring authority to the Palestinians throughout the West Bank would not allow Israel to adequately maintain security for Israeli settlers. Instead you favor a territorial compromise with the Palestinians.
You feel that the Golan Heights is better left occupied at least a little to defend Israel from attack but you are willing to accept a government decision to withdraw Israel and then the military will have to decide what security measures are best given that decision. You are willing and open to negotiations with most countries as long as you do not waive Israeli vital security interests. And you advise that it is not time to start dreaming into thinking that Israel has leapt into a foolproof and eternally protected peaceful relationship with the Arabs. In June of 1997, you were elected to the position on Chairman of the Israeli Labor Party and as a candidate for Prime Minister. Negotiations have been going on concerning the rights to the area of the Golan Heights and a concrete decision and agreement has yet to be determined.
During the 1999 campaign for Prime Minister, the increasing antagonism toward Netanyahu's government boosted your chances as the Labor Party candidate. You pledged not to make a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and to bring any peace treaty with Syria to a national referendum. You also prefer a Palestinian confederation with Jordan to an independent Palestinian state and that he will follow the Clinton/Blair Third Way economic model to bring the economy out of its slump. You also placed great emphasis on the problems of unemployment and the deteriorating health and education services, for which you claim more resources should be allocated at the expense of settlements and "fictitious religious associations." Your promises resonated with the Israeli voters. What began as a candidate who lacked political experience turned into a landslide victory over the incumbent Prime Minister Netanyahu.
During your inaugural speech on July 10th, you told the press: "It is now our duty to finish the job and bring about a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, which has seen so many wars. It is our duty, to ourselves and our children, to take bold steps to strengthen Israel by ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. This government is intent on doing all in its power, taking every step and doing all that is necessary for Israel's security, achieving peace and preventing war." You also stressed that Jerusalem would remain Israel's undivided capital under Israeli sovereignty. On the home front, you promised to help promote equality among minority groups. However Arab political parties protested when they were neglected by your new coalition government. In your term as Prime Minister, you withdrew Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, where they had patrolled the border since the Invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and where over 1,000 soldiers died. You also attempted to seal a final deal to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Yasir Arafat in Camp David with Clinton in 2000. There was no peace deal, and both you and President Clinton would go on to blame Arafat for refusing to accept 97% (estimates vary from 91-97%) of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in return for peace and an end to the conflict. Following the fall of the peace talks, a violent Intifada erupted in the territories and these two events led to Ariel Sharon of the rightist Likud power beating you in a landslide national election in 2001.
Following this election, you were partly blamed for the woes of the new Intifada and many people believed that you arrogantly and bullishly pushed ahead for a premature peace deal that was not yet ripe. You left the Labor party and politics altogether to live in New York and work in the private sector. In 2004, you declared that you were back for good and were ready to enter politics within the Labor party once again. The leadership of the Labour Party went to Histadrut leader Amir Peretz in 2005, and Peretz became Defense Minister under Kadima Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after the Labour Party ran well in the 2006 elections. However, the disastrous war with Hezbollah, and perceptions that Peretz was overmatched by the Defense Ministership, led to a new contest for Labour Party leadership, which you won in June 2007, taking Peretz’s position as Defense Minister. Upon taking this position, however, you announced that Labour would soon leave the government should Prime Minister Ehud Olmert opt not to resign in the wake of a government commission’s report that was highly critical of the Olmert government’s conduct of the War with Hezbollah.
As the most decorated soldier in Israel’s history, and someone who reached the top army position and became Prime Minister of Israel, you have achieved much in your career. Nonetheless, you are extremely ambitious and hope to become Prime Minister again and achieve a final settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflict. To that end, you surprised many by bringing the Labor Party into the coalition government led by Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu in 2009. Observers noted that although Labor and Likud differ markedly on domestic policy, you and Netanyahu share a resolve to counter the threat from Iran forcefully and unequivocally, and this resolve helped to facilitate an otherwise unlikely union.
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