Talking out of both sides of his mouth
Labor party leader, Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak has always tried to pass himself off as a "bitchonist" - a practical leader who was a high ranking officer in the military (he was Chief of Staff) and who is anxious to bring about a 'settlement' with the 'Palestinians' while not compromising on Israel's security. The prototype for a bitchonist was the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.But Barak has always had a problem carrying off the model. During his term as Prime Minister, he was known as Mr. Zig Zag. He was one of the biggest proponents of the 'security fence' ("us over here and them over there," "we need a physical separation between us and the 'Palestinians'") yet even Barak himself has always admitted that putting a 'security fence' around Judea and Samaria is not going to stop terrorism. In fact, he admitted it again today. In a speech to IDF officers in Samaria, Barak said that without Israeli control of Judea and Samaria we can expect more terrorism:
"There are too many terrorists," Barak said during his visit to the Central Division in the Shomron (Samaria), "and too much desire on their part to carry out terrorist attacks. Without intelligence control and without physical control of the area, and without operative effectiveness, we will see more attacks like the one in which Ido Zoldan was murdered [this past November] and like the one this past Friday in which First Sgt. David Rubin and Corp. Achikam Amichai were murdered."Later today, Barak visited the A-Ram checkpoint north of Jerusalem, where he said that checkpoints are a proven and necessary tool in fighting terrorist attacks.
“There is no way to fight terrorism without practical, day-to-day control of the territory,” Barak said.This would all be well and good except that Barak leads a party that believes that Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert has not made enough concessions to the 'Palestinians.' He leads a party that favors expelling all the Jews from Judea and Samaria and fleeing the area as Barak himself once fled from southern Lebanon. He leads a party that would dismantle all the checkpoints tomorrow morning if it had the ability to do so. And not only has he done nothing to convince that party of the positions he espoused today, he is urging the Labor party to remain in the coalition (which he promised to resign when and if the final Winograd Report ever comes out) because he 'believes' that Olmert's 'concessions' to the 'Palestinians' - the same ones that today's statements indicate that Barak opposes - will bring 'peace.'
Or is he planning to remain in the coalition? Channel 2 reported on Monday night that Barak recently met with Avigdor Yitzhaki - a rival of Olmert's in the
Where does Ehud Barak stand? No one knows for sure. But isn't it nice to have accountable politicians? Would you buy a used car from Barak? I wouldn't.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:55 PM
5 Comments:
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I wouldn't buy what Ehud Barak is selling. By his own admission, Ehud Olmert's entire program would make matters far worse. Proponents of a change in the status quo have to justify it. Neither Olmert nor Barak have shown how withdrawing from Judea and Samaria and dividing up Jerusalem would strengthen Israel. The reason the status quo has lasted as long as it has is every one is afraid they would lose a lot and gain little.
Which is why the prospects of a permanent peace agreement this year are very "iffy." The people most affected by such an agreement are the least likely to welcome one. Olmert and Barak have their work cut out for them.
As PM, he was big on the threats and zero on action. As Ramat Kal, he preached and budgeted gadgets over soldiers.
Batya,
Not to mention that before he was Ramatkal (Chief of Staff), he was the commanding officer of the Battle of Sultan Yakub (a massive tank battle in southern Lebanon in 1982 from which three IDF soldiers are missing to this day) and rumor has it that he went to sleep at the height of the battle!
I remember watching him being interviewed on TV way back when he was chief of staff and telling my wife that this guy only cares about his starched Madei Alef (dress uniform) and his executive leather armchair.
He's all show and zero substance.
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