Ehud Barak's lonely stand

JERUSALEM - He has been Israel's prime minister, military chief, the country's most decorated soldier, and, for the last five years, its defense minister and moderate face to the West.

Now, Ehud Barak's long and distinguished career might be coming to an end. He is unpopular with the public, and polls predict his Independence Party will barely make it into parliament in the Jan. 22 election, if at all. Most commentators predict his days in politics are numbered, but others say it may be too early to count the wily general out.

"Barak is all alone now. He just has too many enemies," said political analyst Hanan Kristal. "So why is he running? Is that how he wants to end his career? The only explanation is that he is a fighter, and a fighter doesn't give up."

Barak, 70, earned his reputation as a warrior through a military career that included commanding some of Israel's most daring hostage-release operations and raids.

As commander of the elite Sayeret Matkal unit, Barak led the 1972 raid on a hijacked Sabena airliner on the ground in Israel with the commandos disguised as airline technicians. A photograph of Barak standing on the wing in white overalls as the freed hostages were disembarking has become part of Israeli lore.

The following year, he led a commando operation in Beirut, sneaking into the city disguised as a woman.

A war hero hailed as a brilliant military strategist, he was once seen as a worthy heir to his mentor, the assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. But in politics, Barak rose and fell quickly.

In 1999, just four years after retiring from the military, Barak became prime minister. Political allies and foes alike considered him aloof and imperious, resenting the go-it-alone style that served him in the military. His term lasted less than two years - the shortest ever for an elected Israeli premier - his government crumbling with the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising that followed an unsuccessful summit with the Palestinian leader and U.S. president.

Despite the dramatic collapse, Barak credited his wide-reaching offer to withdraw from nearly all of the West Bank and Gaza with exposing Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's essential rejection of the peace offer - a view endorsed by President Bill Clinton.

In the years since, he has come back to party and leadership posts. Now, ahead of elections, Barak is trying to carve out his electoral place in the center, by staking out more dovish positions on Iran and separating religion and state.

Recently, Netanyahu formed an alliance with a party led by his hard-line foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, creating a superbloc that appears positioned to coast to victory.

That partnership has fueled speculation that centrist and dovish parties may also join forces. But even that does not bode well for Barak, who has rocky relations with all the major candidates and whose party would likely lose its already small base of supporters to a larger bloc.

Leaders of that potential bloc, however, are new political faces generally considered not experienced enough for the top job.

Barak's party is hoping that his experience will be his salvation at a time when the region is churning with popular dissent, civil war, and, perhaps, war with Iran. His party's election ads depict him gazing sternly above the slogan: "Ehud Barak - because we need a responsible adult here."

"There are many who have eulogized Ehud Barak, and most aren't in politics anymore," said Einat Wilf, a lawmaker in Barak's party. "He's the first who will tell you there are people who don't like him. But we don't have many leaders of his caliber, and people will consider that when they vote."