Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TELAVIV935
2009-04-28 08:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

DEFENSE MINISTER BARAK: EXPERIENCED ASSET FOR

Tags:  PREL PGOV IS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0629
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #0935/01 1180811
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 280811Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1546
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000935 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV IS
SUBJECT: DEFENSE MINISTER BARAK: EXPERIENCED ASSET FOR
NETANYAHU, POSSIBLE LIABILITY FOR LABOR

Classified By: Luis G. Moreno for reasons 1.4 (b),(d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000935

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV IS
SUBJECT: DEFENSE MINISTER BARAK: EXPERIENCED ASSET FOR
NETANYAHU, POSSIBLE LIABILITY FOR LABOR

Classified By: Luis G. Moreno for reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. As Binyamin Netanyahu's government settles
in, it benefits from the continuity provided by Defense
Minister and Labor party leader Ehud Barak, who served the
same role in former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government.
Barak brings valued military experience and leadership at a
critical time for Israel, and his tough-minded views on
security make him a good fit in Netanyahu's government. As
head of a traditionally rival party to Likud, Barak is
expected to have some disagreements with the prime minister,
most likely over social spending and the pace of the peace
process. Barak's pursuit of a position within the government
exacerbated fissures within his Labor party, and he is likely
to spend considerable time keeping his opponents at bay while
shoring up his own support within the party. End Summary.

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BRINGS MILITARY, POLITICAL EXPERIENCE
--------------


2. (C) Defense Minister Barak's continued tenure brings
Netanyahu a valued and steady hand in Israel's top ministry.
Barak, Israel's most highly decorated soldier, has served as
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Prime Minister
and his own Defense Minister, and then again Defense Minister
under former Prime Minister Olmert. Barak was at one point
Netanyahu's commander in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit, and
the two men are believed to have formed a bond from that
period that extends to today. Netanyahu greatly values
Barak's military experience, especially when considering the
potential threats facing Israel from Iran, Syria, Hizballah,
and HAMAS. Furthermore, Barak, despite heading the more
dovish Labor party, does not differ significantly from
Netanyahu on foreign and defense policy. He has a relatively
hawkish stand on regional threats and, though he advocates
peace talks and supports the eventual creation of a
Palestinian state, he remains skeptical of the Palestinian
leadership's willingness and ability to conclude and
implement a peace deal at this time. Netanyahu has told
recent visitors that he fully accepts the list of Israeli
security requirements in the event of the establishment of a
Palestinian state that Barak prepared in the Olmert

government.

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DIFFERENCES WITH NETANYAHU
--------------


3. (C) Barak's long resume, his hawkish positions on
security issues, and the good working relationship he has
maintained with Netanyahu made him an attractive coalition
partner, but we expect Barak and Netanyahu to squabble
periodically. Netanyahu is looking to cut spending as part
of his strategy to cope with the global recession, but Barak
is likely to press for additional social spending, in part to
mollify critics within his own Labor party who opposed
joining the government. Barak is already opposing efforts by
Finance Minister Steinitz to trim the defense budget. Also,
Barak, though he has his own doubts, may try to push
Netanyahu to move further and faster on the Palestinian peace
process than the Israeli prime minister appears willing to
go. Barak may also clash with his new coalition partners
over the Arab League peace initiative, which he supports
along with President Peres, but which is opposed by Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Barak, who has long advocated a
cautious approach to Israeli military intervention in Gaza,
may also clash with Lieberman as well as some of the new
government's more "activist" ministers if rocket fire resumes
from Gaza.

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EMBATTLED PARTY LEADER
--------------


4. (C) Barak's reputation as political leader does not
match his reputation as a military leader. His tenure as
prime minister from 1999 to 2001 was short and controversial,
and resulted in the Second Intifada which in turn led to his
party's rout in the next election. Barak re-entered politics
in 2007, however, and some in Labor had high hopes that that
he would help return the party to relevance following a
steady decline in its electoral fortunes. Hopes began to
sour in 2008, however, when Barak backed off of his threat to
take Labor out of Olmert's government in response to the
perceived shortcomings in the premier's conduct during
Israel's war with Hizballah in 2006. Critics charged that
Barak's healthy ego compelled him to remain a minister rather
than lead and rehabilitate his party from the opposition.


5. (C) When Labor dropped from 19 to only 13 seats in the

TEL AVIV 00000935 002 OF 002


February elections, at least 8 of its Knesset members
demanded that the party move to the opposition. Barak
initially seemed to agree (at least publicly),but he quietly
worked behind the scenes with Netanyahu to reach an agreement
for Labor to join the coalition. Opponents within Labor
mobilized to block Barak, but with the backing of Histadrut
labor federation head Ofer Eini, Barak was able to secure a
majority in the party's central committee to support Labor's
entry into Netanyahu's government. Barak was able to whittle
the erstwhile rebels' numbers down to five, but these Knesset
Members (MKs) remain a thorn in his side. They refused to
vote confidence in the new government when it was presented
in the Knesset, and Barak removed rebel MK Eitan Cabel from
his post as party whip when Barak resolved to no longer
tolerate his insubordination. Barak appears for now to
maintain enough support within the party to stave off
immediate challenges, but he surely will be tested in the
next leadership primary which most likely will take place in

2010.

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CUNNINGHAM