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Sunday Morning News

Barak's Led a Bold Campaign for Peace as Prime Minister

Aired February 4, 2001 - 8:33 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As the final days and hours tick down to the critical Israeli election on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ehud Barak is the subject of our political profile from CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In May, 1999, Ehud Barak was elected by a landslide, a general who promised that as prime minister he would deliver peace. Twenty-one months later, Barak's peace process is in tatters and Israelis look set to kick him out of office.

AKIVA ELDAR, ISRAELI POLITICAL ANALYST: Barak is a real tragedy. He is a very talented individual. I believe that Barak really wanted to put his mark on history but he didn't have a clue how to do it.

AMANPOUR: Barak is now thought of as a bad politician, although, and perhaps because he charged headlong into the business of making peace. First, he tried with the Syrians. But that effort failed over a few hundred meters of land. Then he turned to the Palestinians with the boldest, most far reaching concessions ever offered by an Israeli prime minister.

After two weeks of hard bargaining at Camp David with President Clinton mediating, that effort failed, too. Barak had offered a Palestinian state on almost all the West Bank and Gaza, to dismantle some settlements and to share a capital in Jerusalem.

Camp David foundered partly on the fate of Jerusalem's holy sites. And shortly afterwards, the Palestinian Intifada erupted. The spark provided by the visit of his opponent, Ariel Sharon, to the Temple Mount or Haram Al-Sharif.

As the violence escalated, the casualties mounted mostly on the Palestinian side, while the Israeli public was shell shocked. They blamed Barak.

ARI SHAVIT, ISRAELI POLITICAL ANALYST: The majority of Israelis, mainstream Israelis, are rather angry at him twice, once for being more radical than they thought he would be and two, for not succeeding.

AMANPOUR: By now, even the Israeli left, the committed peace camp, felt betrayed by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for rejecting what they considered unprecedented concessions for peace. The Israeli right said I told you so. They pointed to Barak's offer to the Palestinians and to his unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon last year and accused him of proving to the Palestinians that violence does pay.

But in his election campaign, Barak still plays the peace card.

EHUD BARAK, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe that Oslo is dead. I believe that we still have to stick to it and try to resume according to the same parameters, the same line.

AMANPOUR: But it doesn't seem to be working. Barak's core constituency remains alienated, even Israeli Arabs, who traditionally vote Labor. They are furious that 13 of them, Israeli citizens, were killed by the Israeli police during demonstrations in sympathy with the Palestinians.

AZMI BISHARA, ARAB KNESSET MEMBER: People in the Arab world, they had expectations, yes, high expectations, and the higher the expectations are, the deeper the disappointments are.

AMANPOUR (on camera): But Barak maintains he's finally removed the rose-tinted glasses and unmasked all the parties, both the left and the right in Israel, as well as the Palestinians, to reveal just how painful the final steps towards peace will be.

(voice-over): Until Barak, the most contentious core issues had been put on hold.

SHAVIT: But that's helped both sides to play a game, to dance the dance of peace without paying the full price. Barak said I mean business and he forced both Israelis and Palestinians to look right at the heart of the problems and both got terrified.

AMANPOUR: Fear barely two years since Barak was elected on a groundswell of hope.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Now, CNN also requested an interview with Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon but we were told he will not grant an interview until after the election.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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