PROFILE: Ehud Barak, fighting memories as well as rivals

Feb 10, 2009, 12:20 GMT

Tel Aviv - No one, it seems, believes Labour Party Leader Ehud Barak will be Israeli premier after Tuesday's election.

Even Barak himself, who went into the election as defence minister in a coalition government, virtually admitted as such, saying just before polling day that he would not return to the defence ministry if his centre-left party received less than 20 seats in 120-seat Knesset.

Pre-election polls have predicted a tight race between the hardline Likud party and the centrist Kadima, with Labour trailing a distant third, or even fourth. Barak's statement may have been a deliberate ploy to boost his party's share of the vote, since no poll showed it receiving more than 20 mandates.

Barak, in this election, was fighting not only his political rivals, but also the memories of his 1999-2001 term as premier.

The prime minister, who was sworn into office in July 1999, left it less than two years later, bereft of political allies. His plans to bring about a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and then reshape Israeli society, were in tatters.

His election victory had in no small part been due to his image as a pro-peace candidate with an almost legendary military record, which would ensure that he would not compromise on Israel's security.

But in office he quickly alienated even his most ardent supporters. Critics accused him of being arrogant, incapable of working with others, and unable to adjust to the realities of political life.

Barak, who was born on February 12, 1942, entered the Israeli army in 1959 and retired in 1991 after serving as chief of staff.

He has been married twice, has three children from his first marriage, and has an undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics and a graduate degree in systems analysis.