In truth, none of the three parties has anything to worry about. Because even though Barak is playing his negotiating tactics close to his chest -- he isn't telling anyone what he will or won't agree to -- I can fill the party leaders in on just what Barak's red lines will be. So, without further ado, here are the things Barak will just not countenance during his talks at Camp David.
Jonathan Pollard. Under no circumstances will Barak mention Pollard's name in the course of these meetings. It has been proven repeatedly throughout Barak's tenure as "Prime Minister of Everyone" that Pollard is not included in his definition of "everyone". Two lawsuits have been filed against Barak for failing to act on behalf of Pollard as an Israeli agent, and these suits have not even merited a serious response from Barak's office. Barak knows well that Clinton will lie his way to an agreement and then not release Pollard, and so Barak is not even going to try to win Pollard's return to Israel.
The MIA's. Yona Baumel, father of Israeli MIA Zecharia Baumel, and an American citizen, has called on Barak not to agree to anything without "receiving information" on the whereabouts and condition of his son and the other Israeli MIA's from the war in Lebanon. Indeed, every Israeli soldier has the right to know that his government will fight for his release should he go missing in action. Unfortunately, every Israeli soldier must continue to harbor doubts. Ehud Barak, the most decorated general in Israeli history, seems to have forgotten his troops in the field.
Water. In the midst of this week's catastrophic heat wave, the most valuable liquid in the Middle East seems to be a foregone conclusion. The 90% or more of Judea and Samaria that Barak seems to be willing to abandon also contains one third of Israel's drinking water. While many people concentrate, for or against, the abandonment of Israeli homes and security in Judea and Samaria, Barak will ignore the plight of Israelis in Tel Aviv who must draw their water from the mountain aquifers. Palestinian terrorists can inflict far more damage by poisoning Tel Aviv's drinking water than they can by blowing up a few busses in Jerusalem. But this issue will not merit much more discussion than the MIA's or Pollard.
Israel has many interests at stake in the Oslo process. Land and settlement are but two of these issues. But others are more relevant to centrist and leftist Israelis and have been conveniently overlooked by every Israeli government in the past decade. Israel's Prime Minister of Everyone, at the most critical juncture thus far in the process, shows every sign of continuing with this trend.
How sad it truly is that as Israelis sit at home sweltering in record-breaking heat, Ehud Barak flies off to Washington to hand over the rest of the country to a band of terrorists, all with Bill Clinton's excited support and encouragement. If the politicians of the National Religious Party, Yisrael Ba'Aliya, and Shas really cared about this country, they would listen to Barak's red lines and bring down his government forthwith. For only a leader who truly has Israel's real interests at heart, one who truly is a "Prime Minister of Everyone" can make the decision to walk away from this sham they call a summit.
Copyright 2000. Yehuda Poch is a writer living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
