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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Barack leaves Labour, White House feels betrayed
2011-01-20
Ehud Barak wanted to be the Labor Party's leader in the worst way, and that's just what he's done. After twice taking it down the road to defeat -- including a failed term as prime minister -- and turning the once dominant party into a weak also-ran, he pushed it off a cliff this week and left to form his own party.

Once the party of the working classes, it had become a party of elitists as it watched Likud and even Shas fill its former role.

The party that founded the state was struck a final blow by its own leader, who had plotted its demise with Likud Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Left has been unable to find a way to counter a right-wing prime minister and a coalition of more extreme elements, although Barak initially claimed he brought Labor into the coalition for that purpose. The promise to give Netanyahu's right-wing coalition a small degree of balance never materialized.

Barak in recent months has faced increasing pressure to pull Labor out of Netanyahu's dysfunctional government because of its failure to make progress on the peace process. The word from Washington was that the administration was furious with Barak for "deceiving" it about his clout in pushing Netanyahu toward peace, reported Haaretz.
And here's what Haaretz has to say on the subject:
The process of Labor's split began two weeks ago, after a wave of attacks on the part of party ministers against Barak after senior U.S. officials told Haaretz that the Obama administration was furious with the defense minister for "deceiving" them about his political clout with regard to the peace process.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama's senior advisers say that for more than a year and a half Barak misled them about his persuasive powers with Netanyahu regarding his ability to bring him toward an agreement with the Palestinians.
Because the prime minister was going to be open to orders carried by his defense minister from President Obama, after the president had so blatantly insulted him. Clearly our very best and cleverest inhabit the White House.
Posted by:

#1  his persuasive powers with Netanyahu regarding his ability to bring him toward an agreement with the Palestinians.

Svengali Barak.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2011-01-20 14:08  

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