Word: barak
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What he has been showing is his famous attraction to center stage. Amid the latest violence, Israel's opposition Shas Party gave Prime Minister Ehud Barak a one-month "umbrella" of political support, a temporary reprieve from domestic political pressure. But next week that umbrella is set to close, and Barak must figure out how to hold his government together. He has two choices: cut a deal with the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party or swallow hard and hold hands with Sharon. It will very probably be Sharon's last bid for power--the final attempt of a legendary general...
...though Palestinians on the street scream abuse against Sharon, their leaders know he's not their problem--yet. At a recent meeting with European visitors in Gaza, aides say Arafat mockingly proclaimed himself unfazed by the prospect of Sharon's sitting across the negotiating table: "Sharon frightens Barak a lot more than he frightens me." Sharon, Arafat says, could deliver what little he promises, unlike Barak, who in the eyes of many Palestinians seems to overreach at times...
...Barak--a former general himself and commander of Israel's special forces--has been willing to confront Sharon head on. For two weeks last month, Sharon and Barak haggled over the idea of an emergency coalition between left and right--something Israelis call a national-unity government. Barak wanted Sharon included to bolster his minority government. But Sharon set out to exact a high price, demanding a veto over peace-process issues. Barak's team wavered. Two weeks ago, Sharon's chief negotiator, Likud legislator Meir Sheetrit, demanded a decision. "Let's cut the bulls___," he remembers saying. "I want...
Sharon isn't just taking fire from the left. Inside his own party, he is stalked by ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Cleared of corruption charges, Netanyahu is the favorite to unseat Sharon as Likud leader and perhaps to topple Barak. Leading Barak in all the polls, Netanyahu would prefer to see the Prime Minister fall, which would prompt new elections. So Sharon needs to move fast: his ideal play would be to cut a deal with Barak that would lever him into power and keep Netanyahu out of the picture. Sharon would stick around just long enough to establish...
...German shepherd named Schwartz and reminisces about his parents. Samuil and Vera farmed avocados. When the Zionist movement split in the 1930s, they were ostracized for joining the right wing. Their resentment still boils within Sharon, as does their determination. "My parents never surrendered," he says. Neither will he. Barak's chief political negotiator, Communications Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, talked to Sharon each day last week and thinks he can still make a deal. "I'm very happy with what I heard," he says. Sharon was just happy to hear the talking at all. It's the music...