Barak: Think I'll Stick Around

Ok. So Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak didn't resign, even though he said he would. Is anybody surprised? There is no lack of chutzpah among Israeli politicians. In fact, they have taken chutzpah to stratospheric levels, redefining the word, and leaving shame in the dust.

Barak, to remind my readers, said that he would resign from government once the Winograd Report came out. But the Winograd Report came out -and , quite damning it was to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Though he chose not to see it that way. Another fine example of unabashed chutzpah). And Barak found that his cushy chair as Defense Minister was just too comfortable.

Here's his excuse: "I deliberated, considered and decided. I know my comments make some happy and disappoint others. I know that I am liable to pay a political price, but I'm prepared for that.

Barak knows he would pay an even bigger political price if he walked out of the cabinet, so that's why he clung on. Him leaving, and taking the Labor party with him, would pull the plug on Olmert and bring on early elections. And every poll shows that Barak would lose those elections. This way he can stay on, keep practicing his weighty, oracular silences, and hope that the political fortunes start blowing his way. Such are the general's strategies for victory.

---by Tim McGirk/Jerusalem