A Book Review: Barak and Peace

The author of the book explicitly stresses that Ehud Barak, head of the labour party and premier of Israel has used lies and deceit to introduce himself as peacemaker to the world. The peace that Barak has in mind does not take into considerations the interests of the Arabs and the Palestinians but rather secure Israel expantionist interests and politics. He is a militatry man whose hand has been blooded in many suppressive and criminal acts of Israel. So his claim as a man of peace is hollow with no substance. The book has six chapters. The first chapter deals with the prospects of Barak’s government and politics and analyzes his politics during different periods. Barak’s emphasis has been on preserving Israel’s interests thus being tough on peace.The second chapter dwells upon Barak and the peace process with the Palestinians. The chapter concentrates on Barak’s stance towards the Palestinian issue and the obstacles his governments has created for peace. The third chapter has to do with Barak and peace in Qods. In this section the position of different Israeli governments in particular the labour government and Barak in connection to the city of Qods are analyzsed. The next chapter deals with homeland and migration and residence polices of Barak. It stresses Barak’s role in the above settlement issues and shows clearly Barak’s hollow peace and security policies. Chapter five focuses on Barak and the peace process with Syria. The importance of Golan Heights and the positions Israeli politicians have taken regarding the Golan issue, and policies followed by the political parties towards the above problem are analyzed. Also, different or similar approaches of the Likud and labour parties concerning the Golan Heights are surveyed. The last chapter deals with Barak and the peace process in Lebanon which is omitted in translation due to Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and change of policy towards that country.