Defense minister urged to leave gov't

Defense Minister Ehud Barak was lambasted during the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting Monday regarding the investigation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the defense minister's as-yet-unfulfilled threat to quit the coalition.
You have described the prime minister as being incapable of performing his duties. Therefore, you bear full responsibility for the country's security," blasted MK Effie Eitam (NRP/NU).

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

"A situation in which the prime minister is not performing his duties does not enable us to deal with Israel's pressing security problems," he continued. "Therefore, you must restore the mandate and quit promptly to allow the public to choose new leadership that will know how to make the necessary security decisions."

Barak was also criticized regarding the possibility of a Gaza truce. "It will be interpreted as surrender by Hamas, Arab states, the Israeli public and the entire world," exclaimed MK Yitzhak Ben-Yisrael (Kadima), who demanded an urgent cabinet meeting on the subject. "There are rising concerns that Barak doesn't give appropriate weight to the democratic nature of the State of Israel," he continued.

Barak hit back, criticizing the ease with which ministers run to the media. "There were days in which nothing was leaked," he said.

Regarding security developments, Barak described the successes of the recent counter-terror operations in the Gaza Strip. "Over 70 terrorists have been killed in Gaza over the last two months, and 300 in the last half a year," he said.

"Hamas is very stressed and the most effective cause of this stress is the blockade," he continued. "We are clearly on a collision course with Hamas. Therefore, a few months ago, I instructed the defense establishment to prepare operations for various scenarios and the Security Cabinet was given an assessment on the expected achievements and timetables."

Barak said that the Egyptians were major players in the process. "They are prepared to kick-start a process of calm, the first stage of which is a complete cessation of terror activity," he said, emphasizing that developments on the Gaza front would remain separate from those in the West Bank.

The defense minister said Israel was not prepared to reach a period of calm if it would allow Hamas to regroup and rearm.

He also stressed that Egypt was committed to stopping weapons smuggling and that if a truce is reached with Hamas, the Egyptians expected Israel to make several humanitarian easements for Gazans.

Barak added that as per Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas's request, Israel was not conducting any negotiations with Hamas.

Regarding diplomatic negotiations with Syria, the defense minister said that at this stage, talks were being conducted to "put the feelers out."

"We wanted secret and direct contacts but they preferred indirect and closed talks," he said.

"Negotiations with Israel are low on Syria's list of priorities, but we have a big responsibility to remove Syria from the cycle of hostilities," continued the defense minister. However, Barak stated that the chances of a deal being struck this year were not high.

He went on to express concern over the recent fighting in Lebanon, which led to the Lebanese government's subsequent caving in to Hizbullah. "Events in Lebanon over the last month mark a victory for Hizbullah," he said.

Regarding the Iranian threat, Barak said that the Islamic republic was pressing ahead with its efforts to attain nuclear arms and that Israel needed to act to stop it.

"Israel must act so that this threat doesn't materialize. There are many things we can do, but the last things that help us are words and criticism," added Barak.

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Magal
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