BARAK BETRAYS ISRAEL AGAIN

Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak has once again proved himself to be a man without integrity. Ultimately he is the man who caused the war in Lebanon two years ago. The way he originally pulled out the troops when he was PM. Barak was the Prime Minister who first offered to give away the temple mount. Last year Barak became the labor party nominee ONLY after he promised to resign after the release of Winograd...Barak has lied to his party and his country. Once more he has shown his lack of integrity and put himself before country. SHAME ON YOU BARAK--SHAME!!

Barak: Labor will stay in gov't
Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 3, 2008

Labor chairman Ehud Barak revealed his long-awaited decision on Sunday to keep his party in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition, despite the conclusions of the Winograd Report on the Second Lebanon War.

Barak decided not to hold a press conference or convene political reporters to hear his prepared statement. Instead, he relayed his decision to the public via the reporters who were waiting outside the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office Sunday morning.

"I decided to remain defense minister, because I know what challenges Israel is standing before: Gaza, Hizbullah Syria, Iran Lebanon, rehabilitating the army and the diplomatic process," Barak said. "Winograd is a harsh report. There are personal and ethical ramifications and conclusions that are not simple. I will deal with them and when the right time comes, set a date for elections."

With his decision, Barak broke a promise he made twice when he was running for Labor
leader at a press conference in May at Kibbutz Sdot Yam and in a statement he made in June to earn the endorsement of Labor leadership contender Ophir Paz-Pines.

"[The report] requires personal conclusions," Barak said at the time. "Olmert must seek personal conclusions and resign, as Dan Halutz and Amir Peretz did, each in his own way. If Olmert does not [quit] by the full report's publication, we will have to end our partnership with him and work to establish a new government in the current Knesset, or alternatively, to set a date for elections."

Barak said he remembered the promise he made at Sdot Yam, but the situation had changed and he decided to act differently.

"I know I am disappointing some and making some happy, but I decided to do what is right for the nation and this is what is right for the nation," Barak said. "I know I could pay a personal price for it, but I know there is a state and the IDF, which are more important for all of us and for me."

Asked by a reporter present when he would remove Labor from the government, he said he would make a decision on the right date to leave "at a time that is fitting and not far away." Earlier, in a meeting of Labor ministers, they cautioned him not to set another deadline for leaving the government, which they said would only cause him further problems.

Despite fierce opposition to remaining in the coalition from four Labor MKs, Barak said he was not concerned about divisions in the party. He predicted that his decision would "unite the party," which he said had "a variety of opinions but the same goal."

Labor secretary-general Eitan Cabel, who quit the cabinet to protest Olmert's refusal to step down after the interim Winograd Report in April, said he was disappointed that Barak did not keep his promise.

"Barak needed to show leadership and quit the government - a necessary move following the severe results of the Second Lebanon War," Cabel said. "This was a very big mistake."

Labor MK Danny Yatom went further and said he was considering quitting politics or opposing the government in the Knesset from now on. He revealed that Barak visited his home in Kohav Yair Saturday night and he tried for more than an hour to persuade him to remove the party from the coalition.

"I came to politics thinking naively that I could change norms that I think are unacceptable," Yatom lamented. "Now I will have to reconsider my future."

Labor MK Yoram Marciano, one of Barak's fiercest critics in Labor, slammed him for the way he announced his decision.

"He showed lack of leadership by avoiding a press conference," Marciano said. "That's not how a leader should act."

Olmert did not respond immediately, but deputy coalition chairman Yoel Hasson, who is close to him, praised Barak for displaying "national responsibility" by preventing unnecessary elections.

"He put the good of country above the good of his own political interests as he promised," he said. Hasson added that the time was right to bring UTJ into the coalition and "stabilize the coalition."

Opposition MKs blasted Barak for not keeping his word. They accused Barak of being afraid of initiating elections, because of his poor standing in the polls. Yediot Aharonot published a Dahaf Institute poll Friday that showed for the first time that Olmert had passed up Barak for second-place in the polls behing Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

"As expected, Barak has run away from his responsibility," a Likud spokesperson said in a statement. "Barak is assisting the leadership that according to both the Winograd Committee and the public has failed and he prefers his political survival to the good of the country."

Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin called Barak's decision "shameful."

"He gave up the opportunity he had to force the replacement of the prime minister and kept Olmert in a position that the Winograd Committee has concluded he cannot fill," said Beilin.

Maj. Yakir Segev, one of the leaders of the IDF reservist protest movement against the government, told Israel Radio that he felt "betrayed" by Barak's decision, adding that the public would "settle scores" with the defense minister in the future.