What possessed Ehud Barak, a former prime minister known for his cool reserve, to storm the stage of a Labor Party convention, grab a microphone from a shocked colleague and shout in a hoarse voice that the party was being stolen from him? Israelis are used to emotion-packed politics, but were stunned Wednesday by the outburst of the former army commando. Newspapers ran front page pictures of Barak, his face contorted in fury, pulling the mike with both hands from a staid, gray-haired lawyer. “The war over the microphone,” read a headline in the Maariv daily. Barak, who has been trying for a political comeback, apparently underestimated the wall-to-wall hostility toward him in Labor. The party blames him for its misfortunes since he left politics in 2001 after a tumultuous 19-month stint as prime minister. Since then, Barak has spent time abroad, including on the U.S. lecture circuit. “For the past 3 1/2 years, we have tried to rise from the ruins to which Barak sent us,” said Haim Ramon, a senior Labor member. “He hasn’t learned a thing.” Analysts said the 62-year-old Barak’s comeback appears over before it even started. Full Story
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