Leader or bulletproof vest?

There is a unique beverage on sale in France that goes by the name "B And B," a mixture of Benedictine liqueur and brandy. One's palate is not so enamored with this combination because one of them invariably overrides the other, and neither taste really does it. We, too, are beginning to realize that our leadership is comprised of another B and B, Bibi and Barak, a situation wherein it is unclear who controls whom.

The fascinating political phenomenon is that while many are gossiping about the fact that Bibi Netanyahu has not managed to surround himself with good advisors and worthy spokespeople, and the disarray in his bureau is snowballing, the truth is that Bibi has turned Ehud Barak into his chief advisor and spokesman.  Advertisement
 

Just recently, a meeting between Bibi and U.S. envoy George Mitchell was canceled after it became clear that the government has no intention of acceding to the administration's demand to halt settlement construction. The prime minister quickly tapped Barak to travel early next week to meet with Mitchell and senior administration officials in Washington, in order to tie up loose ends.

Not only is he doing a good service to his boss, he is also taking advantage of the opportunity presented to a fresh groom like himself to take his new wife Nili to meet the movers and shakers, if there ever arises a need for alternative sources of income for a defense minister in the Israeli government.

Uzi Baram says that Bibi has turned Barak into both his advisor and his errand boy. A senior political correspondent described Barak's new position as Bibi's consigliere, an advisor who is sent to carry out tasks not under his direct jurisdiction. Barak is also not bothered by the fact that Bibi will sweat in the cuckoo's nest otherwise known as the Prime Minister's Bureau. When asked why he always defends Bibi, Barak responded: "He will surprise people yet. He needs me more than I need him."

Netanyahu has been likened to a physically challenged person relying on crutches. One crutch is old and fragile, capable of snapping at any minute, a crutch that comes in the form of none other than Shimon Peres. The other crutch, strong and rock-solid, is Barak.

Bibi made two statements that angered the U.S. administration. During his meeting with Berlusconi in Rome, he described Iran as the biggest threat, thus embarrassing the Obama administration, which is trying to dim the flames in Iran and begin a dialogue with the regime there. The other faulty comment made by Bibi was his statement that preoccupation with the settlements is a waste of time.

While Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton explicitly state that the understandings with Bush on this matter are not valid and Israel must unequivocally cease construction, Bibi said that we are very close to reaching understandings with the Americans that would enable continued construction in the large settlement blocs. So, instead of the meeting with Mitchell that was canceled, Bibi is dispatching Barak to Washington as an envoy and political advisor, particularly as a bulletproof vest.

From the moment Bibi returned to Israel from the U.S., he cultivated his image as one worthy of greatness thanks to his service in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. Veterans of the outfit cringe every time he boasts of his time in the unit. While he was a good officer, he was not highly decorated, nor was he involved in operations outside Israel's borders, operations that have become the stuff of legend, like those involving Barak. Relations between the highly-decorated Netanyahu and Barak families were first formed when Barak and his first wife, Nava, lived in the same building as Yoni Netanyahu.

Since Netanyahu's return, he changed his American name, Benjamin Nitai, to Binyamin Netanyahu, and has met Barak head-to-head. Bibi attacked Labor, but he never attacked Barak personally. Even when Barak dealt a shocking blow in the 1999 elections, Bibi knew in his heart that Ehud is the senior of the two and left politics for a while.

After Sharon defeated Barak by half a million votes and Barak, too, abandoned his party to pursue business interests, he lost his self-confidence and searched for someone to lean on. It is very convenient for him that Bibi is prime minister and he is defense minister. In practice, both of them could be members of the same party. Barak was never addicted to the peace camp. In the vote on the Oslo 2 agreement, for example, he abstained, angering then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin who then said that he was finished with Barak.

Both Bibi and Barak belong to the species of those who were beaten and scathed, only to emerge and survive. Labor risks ceasing to exist at a time when its party chief is the advisor to a Likud prime minister, said an embittered Laborite. Nonetheless, people ought to remember that the relationship between Olmert and Barak started with leisurely cigar-smoking sessions, professional exchanges of opinions that were written with expensive pens and luxury watches, but ended with Olmert's removal from power made possible by a generous contribution from Barak.

As things stand now, the chummy couple will continue running our lives until the Labor movement in all its permutations, the party which founded the state, will end its historic role while being run by a vote contractor like Weizman Shiri and the Likud advisor Ehud Barak, who does as Bibi tells him while heading a political movement that is melting away.