Instead Barak made an incredible announcement: "I have offered concessions which went further than anything Israel has offered before. The Palestinians have refused everything. They want to throw us into the sea. There is no chance of peace."
Coming from the mouth of the "Leader of the Peace Camp," this turned failure into catastrophe. The Israeli peace camp collapsed. It has not recovered since. After Barak, Ariel Sharon took over, then Ehud Olmert, followed by Binyamin Netanyahu -- seemingly for good.
WHEN AN ordinary Israeli is asked these days "Who do you think can replace Bibi?" the almost automatic answer is: "Nobody." The voter sees no possible successor, neither in the Likud nor in the opposition.
The members of the present cabinet -- male and female -- are nobodies. Little politicians who are good at creating scandals and attracting public attention, but not much else. If there ever were talented leaders in the Likud, they have been removed by Netanyahu long ago.
Half the Israelis believe that "Bibi" is an excellent leader. And indeed, He looks good, is a very clever politician, a wizard of public relations. He makes a good impression abroad and manages the country's daily affairs in a passable way.
The most exact judgment about Bibi was passed by his own father, the history professor. He said: "Bibi can be an excellent Foreign Minister. But he cannot be Prime Minister!"
Nothing could be more true. Netanyahu has all the qualifications of a Foreign Minister, but he has none of the qualifications necessary for a Prime Minister. He has no vision. No answers for Israel's historic problems. No wish to overcome Israel's many internal divisions. Many Israelis hate his guts.
So who can replace him, even in theory?
THE POLITICAL field looks like a human desert. Politicians appear and disappear. The Labor Party (in its different guises) changes leaders regularly like clothes. The glamorous new boy, Ya'ir Lapid, the creator and sole chief of the "There is a Future" party, is losing his luster rapidly.
When somebody asks in a small voice: "What about...Ehud Barak?" a silence ensues. There is no easy answer.
Since leaving public life, Barak has become very rich. His main occupation seems to be advising foreign governments. He lives in the most luxurious building in the center of Tel Aviv. He has no political party. Perhaps he is waiting for The Call.
As a personality, there is no doubt that Barak stands out. He is far better qualified than any other Israeli politician. If a new young leader does not emerge from nowhere, Barak is the only person who could take Netanyahu on.
But one feels in the air a palpable hesitation. He has no following. People admire him, but do not love him. He does not inspire trust, as Rabin did. He has open contempt for people who are less talented than he, and that is a great disadvantage for a politician.
And then there is his record of past failures.
In Goethe's Faust, the outstanding work of German literature, Mephisto, the devil, introduces himself as "the force which always desires the bad and always creates the good." Similarly, Barak is an arch-angel who always desires the good and always creates the bad.
There is Camp David, of course. There was his hatred for Yasser Arafat, the only Palestinian who could have made peace with Israel.
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