The Charlotte Jewish News - August 2000 - Page 3
Political Commander: Ehud Bank
By Kenneth W. Stein
When asked about chances for
a Camp David type summit, my
friend, the grizzled Israeli Arab
affairs correspondent who sought
anonymity, told me, “Barak is giv
ing it all away in advance. This
next sununit, whenever it hap
pens, will be for all the marbles —
all the tough issues are going to be
discussed. And after it is over, he
will take the agreement to the peo
ple in a referendum.”
It was not pessimism so much
as heightened uncertainty that
characterized the tone in his voice.
And this from a rather optimistic
observer with more than a quarter-
century of intimate experience of
watching American mediators
come and go to the Prime
Minister’s office. I disagreed with
him about how Barak is handling
the pre-negotiations.
>^y the jellied anxiety? For
IsraeUs, moments of truth are lurk
ing. This is not the uncertain
weeks and months prior to Jimmy
Carter’s Camp David with Sadat
and Begin twenty plus years ago;
this uncertainty is different.
Few Similarities to 1978
Another southern governor
turned president, fme. But this is
almost where the similarity ends.
Barak is no Begin, Arafat is no
Sadat, and Clinton is no Carter.
Now, there is a second term presi
dent with a track record of being
Israel’s best friend; then, there was
Carter whose public diplomacy
and willingness to push Israel into
unwanted comers prior to the
September 1978 sununit caused
then Foreign Minister Dayan to
worry about how Carter’s possible
pressure would be applied to
Begin.
Everyone knew that Begin
would talk about trading Sinai if
he did not have to talk about the
West Bank and Gaza. Barak is not
only talking about the West Bank
and Gaza in advance of the talks,
he has undertaken the courageous,
though contrary to my friendly
correspondent’s misgivings: in
advance of the summit, breaking
the most sensitive negotiating
eggs.
Israeli Press Full of Rumor
In the last several weeks, the
Israeli press has been full of rumor
that Barak needed and wanted a
summit.
Arafat was clamoring for all to
hear that he would settle for noth
ing less than full Israeli withdraw
al from the West Bank and Gaza,
the removal of all the settlements,
the return of the Palestinian
refugees, and establishment of
Jerusalem as the capital of the
Palestinian state.
Maybe Barak, while giving
everyone the belief that he wanted
a sununit now was perfectly will
ing to have his own foreign minis
ter criticize him pubhcly while his
office over the last several weeks
systematically leaked the details
of a final agreement with Arafat
and the Palestinian authority.
Superb Soldier -- Not a Wise
Politician
Israeli commentators repeated
ly laud Barak for being a superb
soldier, but not a wise politician.
Criticism of his style in decision
making is that he consults few,
moves stealth-like and takes on
the motto of Israeli generals:
“follow-me.” Maybe so. But just
maybe, he is also much more
clever than Israeli analysts are
willing to credit him.
We know he postponed his
meeting with Clinton in May
because he knew he would have to
withdraw Israeli troops from
southern Lebanon in advance of
his promised July deadline. Then, ^
the reason for him not going to
Washington was leaked; Barak
wanted to avoid being pressured
by a friendly Bill Clinton. Wrong.
He wanted to stay in Israel and
oversee the fast-paced withdrawal
from Lebanon, which, by the way,
occurred without an Israeli soldier
getting scratched, and since the
withdrawal, Hizbollah, at least for
the time being, had coincidently
kept its powder dry. Was that part
of the scenario pre-arranged with
folks in Syria and in the Lebanese
national hierarchy? If so, there
was little luck attached to Barak’s
pre-emptive withdrawal; in hind
sight it looks like a calculated
effort on his part. The Israeli pub
lic was ready; they lead, he fol
lowed.
Back to Arafat via the Golan. If
Barak knows how difficult it was
for Israelis to swallow a with
drawal from, the Golan in a
Syrian-Israeli agreement, he also
knows how difficult it is for the
Israeli public to accept making
certain compromises with the
Palestinians, so he has publicly
JCC’s United
Way Grant
(Continued from page I)
arise and are articulated.”
As a member agency, the
Jewish Community Center will
begin to sponsor a United Way
campaign among its leadership,
staff and constituents. President
Menaker put out this early call to
all Jewish Community Center
members and supporters: “We are
now a very formal part of the net
work that assures that our city pro
vides the comprehensive set of
services that is necessary to build
an inclusive and compassionate
community. I believe Aat wc at
the Jewish Community Center
have something special to offer to
this effort progranmiatically. And,
I hope we, the Jewish community
of Charlotte, also have something
to offer financially to both the
campaign of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Charlotte
and to the fund raising efforts of
the United Way of Central
Carolinas. I hope everyone in our
community will find a way to par
ticipate in both drives.”
Executive Director Feldman
concludes that, “The United Way
Board of Directors stands at the
pinnacle of our city’s leadership
community. Wc sincerely appreci
ate not only the financial under
writing that United Way member
ship brings, but also the heartfelt
“vote of confidence” that the
Board has communicated via this
decision.” O
introduced those compromises in
order to give the Israeli public a
chance to digest them. If so, then
Barak learned well the lessons
from the attempted resumption of
talks with the Syrians late last year
and in January.
“...you can be sure that the
prime minister’s office was
doing its own private polling
of Israeli public opinion to
detect trends in what is and
is not acceptable to
Israeli[s]...”
Is He Helping Stabilize Bashar
Rule?
Barak cannot but be pleased
that Assad, before his death, made
a big deal of demanding all of the
land around the Sea of Galilee
retumed to Syria in some final
agreement. So when the Israeli
population not only hiccuped but
practically choked on the idea of a
fiill withdrawal from the Golan
Heights, at least according to
polling data, Barak could only be
pleased that Assad was viewed as
being hard line. Ending those talks
with a deal with Assad before he
died might have violated key
Israeli security concerns (land and
water) but would also have ended
Barak’s tenure as prime minister.
And what better success for
Bashar to be credited with the
Golan’s return? Is Barak that
clever to be willing to not only
insure Israeli security concems on
the Golan, but also help Bashar
stabilize his rule in Syria?
As June wore on to conclusion,
we learned that Barak was willing
to return 90% of the West Bank,
that an Israeli capital in Jerusalem
would also be a Palestinian capital
but on its eastern outskirts, that
some settlements would be with
drawn but most were going to stay
in place, and that a contiguous
Palestinian state would come into
being. Barak has said Israel will
stay in control of the Jordan River
Valley for a decade with no heavy
military allowed by the new
Palestinian state in its area and
only a minuscule number of
Palestinian refugees will be able
to exercise the right of return.
Now, the next Camp David
To
dccju
irc
money
rec
va
lor; to
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cccp
money recjuiVes
prudence; and
to spend money
we
is an art.
— AuertMch, Landhaus am
Rhein
Candle Lighting for August 2000
Friday, August 4
8:05 PM
Friday, August 11
7:58 PM
Friday, August 18
7:50 PM
Friday, August 25
7:41 PM
summit is taking place as we go to
press. Until it started, you can be
sure that the prime minister’s
office was doing its own private
polling of Israeli public opinion to
detect trends in what is and is not
acceptable to Israeli public opin
ion, according to the details now
before the Israeli public.
How Far He is Willing to Go
Barak has told Arafat and
Clinton and now the Israeli public
what his security lines are; he has,
in advance of any final agreement
with the Palestinians, let it be
known how far he is willing to go.
But both Clinton and Arafat, and
maybe even Assad knew too
before his death, what was or was
not possible for the Israeli public
to swallow.
Just maybe Barak is smarter
than most are willing to give him
credit. The general knows the sol
diers will follow; with the politi
cians you can never be sure, and
the public must always be consult
ed with their temperature taken
periodically.
Barak certainly rearranged his
domestic house in June. He
insured his ruling coalition’s
longevity with a compromise with
Shas; he kept Meretz supporting
the government, but not in the
cabinet, and then he tried to bring
in other members of like-mind
into his cabinet.
Plenty of Time
Barak, I would argue, learned
from Bibi Netanyahu’s mistake.
Netanyahu signed the Wye
Agreement in 1998 but could not
sell it to his Parliament. Barak is
not only making sure, or at least
trying to be sure that his cabinet
and coalition stay in place, but that
what is finally offered to the
Israeli public does not end his
political career earlier than he
wanted.
What Barak has that neither
Clinton nor Arafat enjoy is time.
Clinton faces the absolute end in
office, the other, the inevitable end
of life. It is Arafat who has been to
three funerals of contemporaries
in eighteen months.
Barak could turn out to be quite
a politician and in Israeli terms,
perhaps one with longevity. «
Dr. Kenneth W. Stein is the
William E. Schatten Professor of
Contemporary Middle Eastern
History and Israeli Studies at
Emory University. He is presently
studying in Israel.
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