Outside Israel, from Damascus to Washington, the election of Ehud Barak is being hailed as the rebirth of the peace process.
Outside Israel, from Damascus to Washington, the election of Ehud Barak is being hailed as the rebirth of the peace process. The process will be reborn, but the levels of optimism are unwarranted. The 1999 election had less to do with foreign policy than it did with fundamental domestic issues, particularly whether Israel is a secular or religious nation. Even on domestic issues, the outcome of the election was not particularly clear. However, given Barak's domestic agenda, he may have less room for maneuver than foreigners think. With Clinton urgently in need of a foreign policy triumph in the next 18 months, this points to increased U.S.-Israeli tension once the honeymoon is over (STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update Weekly Analysis, May 24, 1999).
