A former prime minister of Israel has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that his gloomy outlook on the world and passive approach to regional threats could lead to a one-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict. Writing in a profile for America’s Time magazine, Ehud Barak criticised the current premier for not working harder to solve the issue. Time included Netanyahu on its list of the world’s “100 Most Influential People”.
Barak, who was Netanyahu’s commanding officer in an elite commando unit decades before serving as his defence minister, said that the prime minister is basically right about Iran and the risky neighbourhood. “However, he can fail to seize opportunities, and on the Palestinian question he grossly ignores the slippery slope awaiting Israel in the form of a one-state solution.”
Pointing out that he knew “Bibi” many years ago, as a soldier and young officer under his command facing real fire, Barak said that he was determined, effective and focused. “Character does not change. ‘Chicken-shit’ he is not,” he wrote, referring to an unnamed US official’s criticism last October. “But over time, while thoughtful and an avid reader of history, he developed a mind-set at once pessimistic, passive and anxious. Benjamin Netanyahu seems to avoid any initiative.”
According to Barak, in order for Netanyahu to leave an imprint, the premier needs to mend the working relationship with President Obama, fight hard — mainly behind closed doors — for a tougher policy, and even, if needed, an attack against Iran and boldly engage the region’s moderates against terror, radicalism and Iranian hegemony. “Daring actions are needed. Not just words,” he concluded.
The American magazine chose Barak to write a profile on Netanyahu, although Barak himself, during his term as prime minister between 1999 and 2001, thwarted several prospects for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, especially during the Camp David summit in 2000.
In the wake of that failure, Barak allowed the then leader of the opposition, Ariel Sharon, to storm into Al-Aqsa Mosque, an act which sparked the second intifada. He then announced that there was no “partner for peace on the Palestinian side.”