Israel8217;s Napoleon8217; takes command

Israelis love their war heroes most when they promise peace and Ehud Barak proved the dictum when he stormed to victory in Monday's elect...

Israelis love their war heroes most when they promise peace and Ehud Barak proved the dictum when he stormed to victory in Monday8217;s election by promising to resolve conflicts not only with Arab neighbours but among Israelis themselves.

Barak, a former Army chief of staff and Israel8217;s most decorated officer, defeated the campaign-savvy incumbent, Benjamin Netanyahu, despite his own lack of political experience and even charisma. His talents lie rather in his sharp intelligence and the methodical determination that he used to wage an election campaign like the military operations at which he excelled during his 35 years in uniform.

Barak, 57, head of the Labour Party, attacked Netanyahu8217;s claims that only a tough leader from the political right could defend Israel8217;s security in negotiations with hostile Arabs. Casting himself in the mold of the assassinated Labour premier Yitzhak Rabin, Barak used his Army credentials to reassure voters still frightened by the prospect of conceding land and power toPalestinians.

Those credentials, mostly while battling Arabs, are impressive.As head of the elite special forces unit Sayeret Metkal, Barak, disguised as a woman, had led commandos on a raid deep into Lebanon in 1973 to assassinate three senior Palestinian militants. Last year, he led the storming of a Sabena airliner hijacked to Tel Aviv by Palestinian militants.Short, baby-faced and thin-lipped, Barak has been baptised 8220;Israel8217;s Napoleon8221; both for his stature and his autocratic tendencies 8212; a habit shared with Netanyahu of taking decisions without consulting his party colleagues. Born in a tiny kibbutz near Tel Aviv, Barak studied Physics, received a Master8217;s degree in Engineering at Stanford University in California and is an accomplished classical pianist. After he retired as Chief of Staff in 1995, Rabin quickly named him Interior Minister, and following Rabin8217;s 1995 assassination he became Foreign Minister. Barely a year later, he took over the Labour Party, and it took him less thantwo more years to defeat Netanyahu and return Labour to power.8211; AFP