PROFILE: Ehud Barak - hoping for political rehabilitation

By Jeff Abramowitz Feb 9, 2009, 4:09 GMT

Tel Aviv - Israel Labour Party leader Ehud Barak is the most decorated soldier in Israel's history, but doesn't look the part.

He is pudgy, speaks with a slight lisp, appears stiff and ill-at- ease when facing the television cameras, is regarded as smug, aloof and even - say his many critics - arrogant.

Faced with this perception of their candidate, Barak's advisors have tried to turn his perceived disadvantages into campaign strengths.

'He's not trendy, he's a leader,' proclaim the election posters, which also state that Barak is not, among other qualities 'sexy,' 'chummy,' or even 'nice'.

The attempt to re-market the candidate has not worked. Nor did Barak's appearance on 'Wonderful Country,' Israel's top-rated television satire show, although his stiff performance as he played himself perfectly suited a woefully unfunny skit.

Even Israel's three-week-long offensive in the Gaza Strip which had high public backing and which Barak, as defence minister, oversaw, did not significantly boost his popularity.

According to the latest polls, under Barak the Labour Party, once Israel's automatic party of government, will plunge to its lowest- ever Knesset representation.

It is not so much the candidate's views, so much as the baggage Barak brings with him.

He was slammed because, as head of a social democratic party, advocating a fair deal for all Israelis, he lived in a luxury apartment in a prestigious Tel Aviv adress.

His decision to sell the apartment only resulted in more scorn being heaped on him, when it transpired that he planned to sell the apartment for around 9 million dollars, quite possibly more money than the average Israeli can hope to see in his lifetime.

His hectoring of unpopular prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was under investigation for alleged corruption, also backfired, when it turned out that Barak's wife ran a public relations company which offered to introduce clients to some of Israel's top decision- makers, for 30,000 dollars.

For most Israelis, however, what Barak has against him is his 1999-2001 term as prime minister, which began in almost unlimited hope and ended with a humiliated Barak seeking a 'time out' from politics after being trounced in prime ministerial elections.

His 1999 victory was due in no small part to disillusionment with then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and to Barak's image as a pro-peace candidate with an almost legendary military record would ensure that he would not compromise on Israel's security.

But in office he quickly alienated even his most ardent supporters, and critics accused him of being arrogant, incapable of working with others, and unable to adjust to the realities of political life, where compromise and consensus are the tools needed to advance policies.

The prime minister who was sworn into office in July 1999 after scoring the most decisive victory in any Israeli election, left office less than two years later bereft of political allies and with his plans to bring about a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and then reshape Israeli society, in tatters.

Returning to politics after his brief time out, he assured supporters he had learned his lessons from his first tenure as premier.

But unlike his political rival and former military subordinate, Likud Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, his political rehabilitation, it seems will not extend all the way back to the prime minister's office, despite the kudos he earned at the helm of the defence ministry during the Gaza offensive.

Barak was born on February 12, 1942 and entered the Israeli army in 1959, serving in a variety of command and combat portfolios, including heading the army's elite anti-terrorism unit.

He was appointed chief of staff in 1991, on on his retirement from the army in 1995 joined the Labour Party, serving briefly as minister of the interior and then as foreign minister. He took over the leadership of the Labour Party in 1997, resigned after losing the 2001 elections, and then was reelected party head in 2007.

Barak has been married twice, has three children, and has an undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics and a graduate degree in systems analysis.