Israel Matzav

Israelis tired of Barak

I've mentioned a couple of times that Defense Minister Ehud Barak has taken over Israel's relations with the United States. In a way, Barak's takeover is the perfect counterpart to Abu Mazen: They have approximately equal legitimacy and popularity and their dominant roles will ensure that whatever is agreed will go nowhere. In fact, that's the perfect metaphor for the Obama administration, isn't it?

“It is unprecedented to have the defense minister have such broad responsibilities,” said Yoram Peri, director of the Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland. Peri noted that it is not unusual to see the prime minister bypass his foreign minister on issues relating to ties with the United States, but “we had never seen in the past the minister of defense take over this sensitive issue.”

...

Washington’s warm embrace of Israel’s defense minister stands in stark contrast to the public display of chill that came out of the White House during Netanyahu’s last two visits, which were both scheduled in the evening, without photo-ops or press availabilities. Then, there is the almost nonexistent contact that administration officials have had with Lieberman, Israel’s actual foreign minister.

But it is not just U.S. difficulties with these two officials that puts Barak in his current role. According to David Makovsky, director of the project on the Middle East peace process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the Obama administration is actively attracted to work with Barak in particular, because he is seen as someone who “understands that time is not on Israel’s side” when it comes to negotiations with the Palestinians. While Lieberman on June 29 again completely rejected the goal of a negotiated agreement on a Palestinian state by 2012, as urged by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Barak has begun speaking out in recent months about the clock ticking against Israel.

“If we do not move forward on this front, we face increasing international isolation,” Barak said during his recent visit to Washington. “We need our own assertive initiative.”

Elliott Abrams, who served as deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush, argued that the current America-Israel communication gap is not something that can be addressed by having one point man in charge — especially not Barak, who is not a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party. “After all, Barak has his own interests and his own party,” Abrams, now a scholar at the Council of Foreign Relations, told the Forward. “The critical thing is the Prime Minister’s Office, far more important than the Foreign or Defense Ministries. That is what is missing today.”

Ironically, as Barak’s star rises in the United States, his popularity in Israel, and even in his own Labor Party, is waning. A recent poll, published in the Israeli daily Haaretz, found that 48% of Israelis disapprove of Barak as defense minister, while only 42% view him favorably.

Criticism of Barak is also on the rise in his own Labor Party, the retired military man’s political home since he entered politics in 1995. His willingness to continue serving in Netanyahu’s government despite the lack of progress on the Palestinian issue has taken a toll on Barak’s standing among his comrades—of late, even on the party’s hawkish wing.

Obama couldn't get Livni into our government so he is dealing with Barak instead. But Barak has no legitimacy in the eyes of most of the Israeli public and if an agreement is ever reached with Barak's imprimatur, Israelis are likely to reject it out of hand. We've been down this road before with Barak (Lebanon flight, Camp David I, "we will know how to respond [to 'Palestinian' terror attacks).

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:53 PM