Hard times ahead for Barak

RHONDA SPIVAK

Some three months ago, Israeli Defence Minister and head of the Labor party Ehud Barak and his second wife, Nile Priel, put their 31st-floor apartment in Tel Aviv's Akirov Towers up for sale, for an asking price of 40 million shekels (approximately $13 million US). They bought the apartment, which the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz sarcastically referred to as "modest," for $2.3 million at the end of 2003.

Barak's timing couldn't have been worse. As of the writing of this article, he is still in the apartment. With the global economic crisis, it seems unlikely that he'll get his asking price. What's more, reminding voters of his Labor party just how much wealth he has personally amassed while, at the same time, trying to stand for social and economic justice is a political disaster.

Most Israelis don't like Barak. Under different circumstances, the results of the American elections could have really helped Barak's election fortunes. After all, not only do he and Barack Obama share a name in common, but, with Hillary Clinton set to be the next U.S. secretary of state, he could easily have picked up where he last left off when he led Israel.

Unfortunately for Barak, his wife has turned out to be more of a political liability than an asset. Just before Rosh Hashanah this year, Barak's reputation was badly damaged when the Israeli media learned about a public relations consulting firm, Taurus, established by Priel to represent potential clients to Israeli businesses and decision-makers. Israeli media reported that Priel was using her proximity to Barak, one of Israel's most senior political figures, to advance her private business affairs. Priel even wrote on the company's website that she was personally acquainted with most of the 800 to 900 decision-makers in Israel. "Many of these senior businesspeople feel comfortable working with people they know," she wrote.

It never dawned on Priel or Barak that the last thing Israeli voters would want to hear is that there are only "800 to 900 decision-makers'' in the country. When it comes to political life, every single voter is a "senior" decision-maker.

The Taurus affair showed that Priel was interested in selling her inside connections to Barak, which is ethically troubling. A more sinister possibility raised by Israeli media is that Priel's consulting firm was really a front for illegal campaign fundraising for Barak. Not long after the media reports about Taurus surfaced, Priel announced that she had decided to close her company.

The left-wing Meretz party appears set to grab some of Labor's votes. Polls show that Labor may only garner six or seven seats and Meretz may gain more.

Rhonda Spivak is a freelance writer who divides her time between Israel and Winnipeg.

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