It seems that the Arabs of Israel will also not mourn his departure. For weeks the media in Israel has been complaining loudly that the Arabs, who traditionally support the left, are planning to stay home on Election Day, and that this is the prime reason why Barak lags by about 20 points in the polls.
Today, Barak virtually admitted his defeat by announcing to the cabinet that he takes full personal responsibility for the deaths of 13 Arab rioters at the beginning of the current mini-war in October. He stated that there is no reason for the deaths of "innocent demonstrators", even if the demonstration is illegal.
Four months ago, of course, Barak supported the police in their handling of the riots, during which Arabs instigated pitched battles in the streets of the Galilee, including live fire and the inclusion of hand-thrown bombs. The police responded in kind, understanding in advance that such battles were possible, and having prepared in advance for just such a security nightmare as they faced then.
But today, Barak believes that the violent insurgents who fought with police in October were merely "innocent demonstrators". One wonders, then, why the government is so afraid of many other innocent demonstrators, such as the Women In Green or Zo Artzeinu, whose leaders have repeatedly been arrested and harassed by police.
Israel is a land where the rule of law applies - at least according to the leftist establishment of this country, of which Barak is still nominally the head. It seems that when the demonstrators are peacefully expressing their anger over Barak's intention to abandon the heartland of Israel, to cede Judaism's holiest sites to a band of unrepentant terrorists, and to abandon Jewish lives to the whims of Arab murderers, these demonstrators are subject to unusually harsh treatment by the guardians of Israeli law.
Given that Barak has now basically confessed to the murder of 13 people he considers to have been innocent, I believe that Israeli law enforcement officials should promptly arrest Mr. Barak and place him on trial for those murders. Such a move would at least begin to equal the playing field between right and left in what is supposed to be a land where the rule of law holds sway.
Of course, such an arrest and trial will not likely happen. Barak, after all, leads the establishment, and while that establishment has grown increasingly disillusioned with his leadership, he is still very much "one of the boys". As such, he will continue to enjoy immunity from prosecution, while the true heroes of Israel, the innocent demonstrators who continue to throng the streets to express their Zionism and their anger at having their home taken from them, will continue to be harassed.
The next time an Israeli establishment figure trots out the mantra of the Rule of Law in Israel, he or she should be reminded that there is a confessed murderer walking the streets of Israel enjoying the protection of the General Security Service and a healthy pension as a former Chief of Staff and former Prime Minister.
4-February-2001
Copyright 2001. Yehuda Poch is a writer living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
