1. Once, light years ago, Ehud Barak invited me to his home. Asked to be acquainted. We sat for about three hours talking about history and Talmud, philosophy and poetry, policy and the army. Impressive is the man, with a perspective that I have found little like in others.
I told him that in some ways, he had become the deer of his camp. Barak was the Messiah who was designated as the successor of Yitzhak Rabin, z"l, and who was destined to redeem his followers from Netanyahu and revive the spirit of Oslo. And here, it was he who coined the phrase that buried the hope of peace when he returned from Camp David and told the nation the truth: "There is no partner" with the Palestinians, despite the unprecedented concessions he offered. There was an admission here of the failure of the concept of "land for peace."
For his followers, this was primarily heresy, in what had long been the raison d'être, the raison d'être of his political camp, which distinguished him from his political opponents. This confession was as equivalent to the conversion of Shabtai Zvi, who turned out to be a false Messiah. Here, I told him, you too have been marked as the Messiah who has failed. He flashed a smile and agreed with me.
Your ego, I told Barak, is greater than the command of history to serve the people. There is an unfortunate repetition of the brothers' jealousy of Joseph, which led to a separation between the kingdoms of Judah (the sons of Leah) and the kingdom of Israel (the sons of Rachel)
2. But this is not just a historical literary comparison, I told him. This has consequences for your actions, because since then you have been trying to return to being the anointed leader of your followers, and you do not shy away from means. Because what is the difference between you and Benjamin Netanyahu in terms of your views? Give one topic, I requested, where you think the opposite 180 degrees, until it doesn't allow you to cooperate. He did not raise anything in principle. That was before the legal libel. I told him that I conclude that his tireless motivation, which has become a crazy obsession, stems from a personal matter: Barak was Netanyahu's commander in the General Staff unit, and here his subordinate did better than his commander. It's inexcusable for him.
Netanyahu and Barak on other days, photo: AP/Archive
Your ego, I said, is greater than the imperative of history to serve the people in any capacity. God has given you a talent for leadership, and instead of harnessing it for the good of the nation, joining Netanyahu as you did in his second government, you have become the spearhead of a civil war that focuses on the leader of the other camp, hoping to topple him or at least dirty his name and breed hatred towards him. This is not leadership, I told Barak, and history will judge you. There is an unfortunate repetition of the brothers' jealousy of Joseph, which led to the historic separation between the kingdoms of Judah (the sons of Leah) and the kingdom of Israel (the sons of Rachel).
3. The hatred towards Netanyahu did not stop at him, but was directed at the masses of his constituents, who do not despise the wise men and women who prove with signs and wonders that the root of the nation's disaster is Netanyahu. This week I heard former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz tell journalist Sharon Gal that Gal's 200,<> viewers and listeners are not the ones he wants to talk to. Because that's the truth, in Barak's merciless ego war, he dragged the entire nation, which for several years has been rocked by the boycott of the ruling party. I was in Italy during these three strange years, which began with Lieberman's boycott of Netanyahu and political indecision, and then more election campaigns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The demonstrations in Balfour in 2021, photo: Oren Ben Hakon/Archive
The Italians, who drank the poisoned cup of the coronavirus first in the West, looked at the opposition demonstrations in Israel and the irresponsible declarations towards the lockdown policy in Israel, which brought better results than most countries (at a time when there was still no vaccine!), and could not believe their eyes. More than once I have been asked if we have gone crazy. Indeed, it was not the coronavirus that was the issue, but Netanyahu's obsession. And then the formation of the "change" government, which preferred Mansour Abbas over Netanyahu. Naftali Bennett cooperated with this historic move. Stealthily assuming the post of prime minister despite his promises, he retroactively agreed to the brothers' hatred of Joseph. Of course, he said that he did it "for the people," but so did the brothers when they removed Joseph, who was saving the future of the nation. And what will they think of us a hundred years from now?
4. Hatred blinds the eyes from seeing the suffering of the nation. The current demonstrations have no real purpose. The slogans about democracy are childish. Democracy has always been natural to us, and is not in danger. Blowing up assemblies and conferences and persecuting representatives and speakers from the other camp, while trying to humiliate them, is an old practice; Mussolini's followers also used it about a century ago. Alas for the historical irony. This is not a culture of debate but an escape from public debate, because every argument means legitimizing the other side's positions, and is therefore doomed to an explosion by proponents of one-way democracy. Identity politics has long since come to academia. Especially in the humanities and social sciences, the rise in academic ranks is often determined by political identity. Even more so freedom of speech, which is reserved solely for a particular opinion.
5. The Sabbath is called Korach and his community in the story. It is not for nothing that we repeat the story for thousands of years until it became a historical example of controversy "not for heaven's sake," as our sages defined it two thousand years ago, but about ego and roles and who will head it. It is a dispute that "does not exist," that is, does not stand on a basis that has the existence of truth. The controversy led Korach, one of the talented leaders of the desert generation, to dirty Moshe's name, and on the way to incite the people against him with claims of equality ("The entire community is holy ... And why should you patronize the audience of God"). And when that wasn't enough, his followers pointed out Moses' "corruption": In fact, you brought us up from Egypt, which was a land flowing with milk and honey ("It used to be good, until you came and destroyed everything...") just to get over us, to receive benefits as ruler, and you didn't keep your promises to bring us to another land flowing with milk and honey and arrange lands and fields for us.
Incitement worked. A significant part of the public began to believe. The result is dramatic: the burning hatred between the camps created a huge black hole that separated the parts of the nation and threatened to engulf us all, while all around us the daughters of the Palestinians are roaring, and Tehran and Hezbollah are grinding at our mischief, expecting to reap the fruits of the civil war as it was then between Judah Aristobulus and John Hyrcanus, the sons of Yannai and Shlomtzion, who in the first century BCE fought for the monarchy and brought Rome to judge between us. That's how we lost our independence.
A balding story is a warning sign for all of us. Even if the earth opened its mouth and swallowed it, its spirit continues to hover among us and create social sinkholes. Ehud Barak and his friends should know that they are not dealing with one person but with the people, the vast majority of whom know the damage caused by civil war and therefore reject their attempt to incite another brother. This is how Alterman prayed for the nation at another time, when we were besieged by enemies from outside: "Only give it strength, a merciful father, only strength./ For it will not be bland and premature without power." Do not despair. We will overcome.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us