Comments on: A rift between Netanyahu and Barak? Not so fast http://972mag.com/a-rift-between-netanyahu-and-barak-not-so-fast/57041/ Independent commentary and news from Israel & Palestine Wed, 22 May 2013 10:52:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Greg Pollock http://972mag.com/a-rift-between-netanyahu-and-barak-not-so-fast/57041/comment-page-1/#comment-79970 Greg Pollock Fri, 05 Oct 2012 02:21:02 +0000 http://972mag.com/?p=57041#comment-79970 What's the point? What the post says (and K9's addition) reminds of of old city politics, Chicago or NYC style, where policy was secondary to players. Policy becomes what players need to hang on, with no principled stands. Bibi's principled stand is reticence, except on Iran, which allows the defacto policies he wants proceed. I doubt Barak believes in anything save keeping his place. What exactly would a political rebellion look like--maybe that which caused Sharon to exit Likud and build his own party is all Israel is presently capable of. What’s the point? What the post says (and K9′s addition) reminds of of old city politics, Chicago or NYC style, where policy was secondary to players. Policy becomes what players need to hang on, with no principled stands. Bibi’s principled stand is reticence, except on Iran, which allows the defacto policies he wants proceed. I doubt Barak believes in anything save keeping his place. What exactly would a political rebellion look like–maybe that which caused Sharon to exit Likud and build his own party is all Israel is presently capable of.

]]> By: Kolumn9 http://972mag.com/a-rift-between-netanyahu-and-barak-not-so-fast/57041/comment-page-1/#comment-79887 Kolumn9 Thu, 04 Oct 2012 19:00:21 +0000 http://972mag.com/?p=57041#comment-79887 Yeah, Barak knows that he has no place in the Likud and he needs to start playing for a place in a larger center-left party. He has four months to distance himself from Bibi. This spat over the US is just a start. Then there is the unilateral separation plan that he pushed forward for which he was attacked from within the Likud. Just a couple of finishing touches to go. Barak will probably show up in Amman or there will be a leak about high-level Barak meetings on the sidelines of some conference or telephone conversations with prominent Arabs/Palestinians. So, now that he has his 'solid' foreign policy credentials, the next step is to differentiate on domestic policy. He is the defense minister. He can make Israeli politics go boom just by mailing out a couple of hundred pieces of paper to the right group of people dressed in all black. At that point he can have a very loud yelling session with Eli Yishai and force Bibi to fire him, or if Bibi maneuvers really well, Barak can quit with indignation. At that point his future Knesset seat should be secure were he to run on his own but Barak is too much of a schemer to let it go at that. You don't go through all this trouble to stay in the game unless you are thinking big. Yeah, Barak knows that he has no place in the Likud and he needs to start playing for a place in a larger center-left party. He has four months to distance himself from Bibi.

This spat over the US is just a start. Then there is the unilateral separation plan that he pushed forward for which he was attacked from within the Likud. Just a couple of finishing touches to go. Barak will probably show up in Amman or there will be a leak about high-level Barak meetings on the sidelines of some conference or telephone conversations with prominent Arabs/Palestinians.

So, now that he has his ‘solid’ foreign policy credentials, the next step is to differentiate on domestic policy. He is the defense minister. He can make Israeli politics go boom just by mailing out a couple of hundred pieces of paper to the right group of people dressed in all black. At that point he can have a very loud yelling session with Eli Yishai and force Bibi to fire him, or if Bibi maneuvers really well, Barak can quit with indignation.

At that point his future Knesset seat should be secure were he to run on his own but Barak is too much of a schemer to let it go at that. You don’t go through all this trouble to stay in the game unless you are thinking big.

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