The harsh criticism leveled at former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who declared that he was returning to politics to protect democracy but has proven in his rhetoric that he seeks only to undermine it, is more than justified. Even fellow leftist Labor Leader Amir Peretz has described Barak as "a man who walks into the room with an explosive belt strapped to his body and threatens that if we don't meet his demands he will explode."
Barak has been lambasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with unprecedented insolence. As a general, he even threatened a fight to the political death, underscoring it with the gesture of a gun aimed at his opponent's head, a reminder of the assassination of a wanted arch-terrorist by the unit that Barak commanded during the heroic Israeli raid in Lebanon in 1973 known as Operation Spring of Youth, in which he came to military fame.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
There is no need to be Freud to explain Barak's tragedy. All one needs to do is read the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis to realize how powerful and disruptive jealousy can be.
Barak, a former IDF chief of staff, a decorated officer, entered politics and defeated Netanyahu in the 1999 election. He must have believed then that he would leave his mark as the best prime minister in Israel's history and that his political vision would really bring about the "dawn of a new day" but, unfortunately, history proved otherwise. Is there a pain greater than that of a man who after years of victories experienced such crushing defeat?
And then, as if adding insult to injury, he was succeeded by a man who was his subordinate in the IDF. Barak has had to watch and see how, despite the best smear campaign the Left could have come up with – one joined by the media, the business community and even the cultural sphere – Netanyahu has made strides in defense, security and the economy, and has elevated Israel to the status of a world power.
Netanyahu has forged ties with the leaders of superpower and Muslim heads of state. He has managed to convince the United States, and even some European statesmen that Iran, which openly threatens to obliterate Israel with the nuclear weapons it is pursuing, is a threat to the entire world, and that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the main cause of all that ails the Middle East.
Barak's archrival has also marked achievements for Israel's economy, which is now booming and enjoys high growth rates, a dramatic drop in unemployment, an impressive rise in the standard of living and massive technological achievements.
During this time, Barak served as Netanyahu's defense minister, so obviously, he was pleased with the prime minister's performance.
Barak may have proven to be a failed politician, but he later proved a very successful businessman, amassing considerable wealth in a relatively short period of time. This, it seems, has done little to make up for his failure as prime minister, so he abandoned his successful business and went to war for democracy.
When in war, you fight dirty and Barak is not above stooping low to achieve his goals, even if he had to agree to be placed 10th on the Knesset list he formed with the painfully inexperienced Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz and Labor's Stav Saffir.
Barak seems to think that even from as low as the 10th slot he would still be able to call the shots. He will continue to act aggressively to achieve his goal – exacting revenge on Netanyahu, whose successes only highlight Barak's failures. One can only feel sorry for such a talented man who is plagued by pathological jealousy.
