Israel Matzav

Ehud Barak: A record of failure

When Ehud Barak ordered IDF Naval commandos to take over the six ships of the flotilla of fools armed only with paintball guns and pistols that were not to be used until it was clear that their lives were endangered, it was just the latest in a long string of Barak failures. While Barak is known as the most decorated soldier in the country, as a leader he has caused one failure after another.

In 1973, Barak botched a rescue operation during the “Chinese Farm” battle near the Suez Canal and failed to rescue soldiers under the command of General Yitzhak Mordechai.

In 1982, during Operation Peace for Galilee — in which Israel attacked PLO and terrorist groups in Lebanon — Barak commanded the IDF in the eastern region of South Lebanon. He ordered an attack at Sultan Yakoub, in which Israeli soldiers were ambushed by Syrian army commandos and PLO guerilla units. Overpowered and suffering heavy losses, the IDF unit repeatedly begged for help to rescue them. Barak failed to respond. In that battle, 23 IDF soldiers were killed and three were captured: Zachary Baumel, Zvi Feldman, and Yehuda Katz. Missing in action, their fate is still unknown. [Rumor has it that Barak went to sleep that night. CiJ]

Five years later, when the “first intifada” broke out, Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin assigned Ehud Barak, Amram Mitzna, and Dan Shomron — whose political views trumped military necessity — to quell the rebellion. They failed miserably. This not only encouraged Palestinian terrorists, especially Fatah and Hamas, but led to the PLO’s rehabilitation and the disastrous Oslo Accords in 1993, which Barak implemented.

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In 1992, during a training exercise at the Tze’elim base, a missile hit a unit by mistake, killing five soldiers and seriously wounding six more. Watching this tragedy, Barak did nothing to help and refused to allow his helicopter to be used in the rescue operation. He was severely criticized for his behavior. [This is known as the Ehud Barach - Ehud fled - incident. CiJ]

As prime minister in 1999, Barak gave away the entire gas and oil fields off the Gaza coast to the PA … for nothing, and without conditions. He never explained his decision.

In May 2000, Barak ordered a retreat from South Lebanon. Although the action was debatable, the chaotic manner in which it was carried out and the abandonment of the SLA has been widely condemned. Barak’s action gave Hezbollah its first victory.

At Camp David and Taba in 2000, Barak offered Yassir Arafat nearly all of the area conquered in the 1967 Six Day War, including most of eastern Jerusalem, without understanding that Arafat was planning a major terrorist insurgency.

Barak not only failed to anticipate the second intifada in 2000 when it broke out, but failed to put it down decisively.

For more Ehud Barak failures, read the whole thing.

You may wonder after reading this article why Ehud Barak is Defense Minister. So do we.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:54 PM