By Donald H. Harrison 

To win allies in the effort to prevent Iran and North Korea from becoming full-fledged nuclear powers, the United States must woo Russia and China by soft-pedaling its criticism of those two countries over such issues as Russian handling of Chechnya, and China's human rights violations and threats to Taiwan, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told nearly 1,200 men at a United Jewish Federation dinner in San Diego.

At the January 17 dinner and at a prior news conference, Barak said it is imperative that the world unite to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power, but said there must be concerted diplomatic efforts before any military solution is considered.  He called for United Nations sanctions against Iran, and a program of inspections. Only if Iran attempts to prevent those inspections should non-diplomatic means be employed, he said.

Barak, who was Israel's most decorated soldier before becoming prime minister, said a military campaign against Iran's nuclear facilities will not be as simple a matter as was Israel's strike against Iraq's nuclear reactor outside of Baghdad over 20 years ago.  He said the nuclear facilities are dispersed among two dozen civilian population centers and are buried beneath the ground.  Taking out Iran's nuclear capacity would require a series of attacks, each one having the benefit of further delaying that country gaining full nuclear capability.

He said such a coordinated program against Iran will not be successful without the help of Russia, just as a coordinated effort against North Korea requires full cooperation of China.  Except to recommend dampening criticism of China's human rights and Taiwan policies, Barak focused more on his own area of the world.

Barak said Israel should not overtly participate in any military campaign against Iran, because this would give various European countries an excuse to give the effort less than their full support.

He also gave his prescription for the United States in Iraq, saying that the United States cannot be perceived as  being weak, so should emphasize its continuing commitment. On the other hand, he said, in time Iraq's government will recognize that having U.S. troops in population centers is  becoming "part of the problem rather than the solution."  Eventually, he predicted, the Iraqi government will request the United States to withdraw its troops from population centers. While quickening the pace of its training of Iraqi troops, the United States should make ready to withdraw to the Iraqi side of the Jordanian border—a place from which it could send troops into the Sunni triangle, if necessary, within three hours or by helicopter in 30 minutes, he said.

Although as the leader of the Labor party, Barak often was at odds with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as well as Ehud Olmert, who has been acting prime minister since Sharon's stroke, he heaped praise on both men during his appearance in San Diego's Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel. He made a point of describing Olmert as a good friend.

He told of visiting Sharon just 48 hours before the stroke, and telling the leader that he admired him not only for his military career—Barak served under Sharon as a tank commander in the 1973 Yom Kippur War—but for two more recent accomplishments: the withdrawal from Gaza and the creation of the new centrist Kadima party.

Barak said many Israelis knew that a two-state solution was the only way Israel could avoid becoming either a non-democratic state or a Muslim-majority state in the future.  Although there are about 6.5 million Jews between the Mediterranean Sea and 3.5 million Arabs, the latter population's birth rate is much higher, he said.

Although Sharon was once the leader of the settlement movement, Barak said Sharon finally recognized that the settlers had to be withdrawn from Gaza and isolated areas of the West Bank, and after arriving at that conclusion, did not look back.

As for the Kadima party, Barak said Sharon's creation of the new group has helped to redefine Israeli politics.  Henceforth, he said, it is not the right versus the left; but those who favor withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank versus those who still believe in the concept of Greater Israel.   He said Kadima believes that if there is a contest between preserving the Land of Israel or the people of Israel, saving the people must prevail.

Asked if he is considering leaving the Labor party which he once led to join Kadima, he declined to answer, other than to say, "As of now I am with Labor."  There have been published reports that Barak may be offered the post of Defense Minister—which he had held prior to serving as Prime Minister. Barak carefully declined to confirm or deny such a possibility, saying only that he had served in many posts and was not particularly hungry to serve in any of them again.

At the news conference and the dinner, Barak was asked about the Stephen Spielberg film, Munich.  He said he had not seen it, but rejected what he described as the movie's implication  that there is moral equivalence between terrorists and those sent to eliminate terrorists.

He said back in the days when he was attempting to finalize a two-state solution with the late Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, under then U.S. President Bill Clinton's prodding, he would tell the Palestinian leader that Israel would not release from its jails those Palestinians with Israeli blood on their hands. He said Arafat would counter that Israelis also had Palestinian blood on their hands.  

To this Barak said he replied that whereas Israeli soldiers were sent by their democratically elected government to defend its citizens in targeted attacks against the perpetrators of  random, indiscriminate killing by terrorists; Palestinians were sending terrorists to kill civilians indiscriminately in an attempt to use terror as a way to intimidate Israelis.  He said he told Arafat he rejected the idea there was any moral equivalence between the two.

Barak expressed disappointment that Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, hadn't attempted to rein in Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the first weeks of his administration when popular sentiment favored him.  Abbas' hesitation has made him weaker and weaker, Barak said. The former Israeli prime minister said Abbas is 80 percent rhetoric, and only 20 percent action.   

Asked what would happen if Hamas wins the Palestinian elections, Barak said it would most likely result in renewed fighting.  Nevertheless, he said, he does not believe Israel should do anything to give the Palestinian Authority  an excuse to cancel elections and to blame Israel.