"Even those who know Ehud Barak well find it hard to pin him down ... there is something hidden and intriguing in him.." wrote Orli Azulai-Katz in a Yediot Aharonot profile (June 4). She describes how his army career, as a soldier of exceptional courage and chief of staff, taught him to be wary, relying only on himself. Azulai-Katz portrays him as somewhat closed, disliking emotional displays, though capable of weeping at a film. He dominates any conversation.
Barak's political stance is similarly unfathomed. "Barak, like Netanyahu, was not elected because of his faithfulness to the party platform, or because of a record of political achievement ... but because he looks like a winner." (Hami Shalev, Ma’ariv June 4). Azulai-Katz reported Barak himself as saying that his qualifications for the post of prime minister are "a deep understanding of reality, and the ability to get elected."
Perhaps his elusive personality, and the absence of ideology, invited the torrent of advice Barak received, from commentators seeking to fill in the blank. Joel Marcus offered six tips ("Ha’aretz" June 4): "You may be considered Rabin’s heir, but, unlike him, don’t be arrogant, don’t quarrel, insult, or start settling accounts...treat Peres respectfully but warily...set up a shadow cabinet including your defeated rivals...meet Arafat straight away (which in fact Barak is proceeding to do)and heed Ben Gurion’s maxim to ask not: what does the country want?, but: what does it need? ...work out the answers to burning issues like Lebanon.. and whether you want to join a unity government when Netanyahu runs into a dead end later this year...don’t be a Bibi look-alike, because he’ll be more Bibi than you...the Labour party must prove it has its own way forward."
Several commentators said Barak should note the 14.7% polled in the leadership election by Moroccan born Professor Shlomo Ben Ami, who campaigned on social and ethnic issues. According to them, to be elected prime minister, Barak needs to win back alienated voters of North African and Eastern origin who have turned to religious party Shas. Even Shas leader Arye Deri offered this counsel.
Sever Plotzker ("Yediot Aharonot" June 4) disagreed. Labour’s social record in government was fine. It lost the general election because people felt their security was being undermined by its concessions in peace negotiations. Only a few thousand floating voters make the difference between winning and losing elections. Barak should emulate Tony Blair, who swept to power in Britain because he captured the middle ground from the Tories. In this respect, his lack of clear policy is an advantage. Hami Shalev warns, though, that, being elected purely as a winner, and not as bearer of an ideological banner, means that you have to keep on winning.
The middle ground, peace with security, was represented by Yitzhak Rabin. The question may be then, not whether Barak looks like Bibi, but which of them looks more like Rabin’s real heir. Bibi may be trying to steal Barak's clothes, according to Zeev Schiff ("Ha’aretz" June 5): "In presenting to the security cabinet his plan for a permanent settlement with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a further step in his efforts to broaden support among the Israeli public.. By dubbing it "Alon Plan-Plus", the prime minister is trying to say that he is continuing...the way of Yitzhak Rabin and (Rabin’s mentor, who put forward a peace plan in 1968) Yigal Alon."
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Israel’s Main Hebrew Dailies:
| Readership as % of population |
| | Weekday | Weekend |
| Yediot Aharonot | 48.4% | 62.5% |
| Ma’ariv | 23.5% | 33.3% |
| Ha’aretz | 7.1% | 9.8% |
| Globes | 3.5% | 2.8% |
The above figures are based on a survey carried out by the Israel Advertising Association in November 1996. The survey covered a sample of 2,500 people representing a cross-section of the population of Israel.