An Iron Fist for the Enemies of Israel

By Lisa Beyer

Last Friday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak sat down with TIME's Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyer for an exclusive interview.

The withdrawal was very much your baby. If it brings quiet, you're a genius. If it doesn't, you're in serious trouble?

I don't perceive leadership as a kind of gambling. There is a certain element of calculated risk. We are facing a lot of uncertainties, but my job is not to be paralyzed by the uncertainties--to try to play it in a way that will encourage the probability of good results.

What compelled your decision to withdraw?

At a certain point the Security Zone ceased to be an asset militarily. It began to be a liability. We were in a vicious circle. When we had the upper hand, we said, "Why leave?" When the Hizballah had the upper hand, we said, "Oh, no, we will never sway under pressure." So I thought the only way to cut this Gordian knot is to set a target date [for withdrawal]. Once I set it, I said in advance, When it comes to the moment, Hizballah will try to intensify their attacks in order to prove, so to speak, that they pushed us out.

Still, you came to the decision to get out because you were hurting in south Lebanon. So, ultimately, Hizballah won and Israel lost.

No. Look, Lebanon is a tragedy. We have more than a thousand families who buried their sons there. So it became clear that somewhere it lost its sense. [Hizballah] also suffered a lot of blows, but somehow it could not end but by a political step of leadership. To fight against terrorism is like fighting mosquitoes. You can chase them one by one, but it's not very cost effective. The more profound approach is to drain the swamp. So we are draining the swamp.

How does the withdrawal affect peace prospects with Syria?

It's too early to predict. I can hardly say I predicted the Syrians' responses until now. The door was left by the Syrians slightly open, maybe a small crack. We will not close it. But I'm not very optimistic listening to the voices from Damascus. They are busy now with some internal political issues. For the past three months, since they realized that I did really mean to pull out of Lebanon with or without an agreement with them, they began very actively to work on mobilizing extreme elements among the Palestinians in Lebanon and certain elements among the Hizballah to carry out attacks against Israel even after we leave. It's quite a surrealistic picture... They are playing quite a dangerous game there. I believe that the intelligence communities of the leading nations are watching it. So if violence will be initiated against Israel after our pullout, it won't be complicated for us to identify who is behind it. Even if they appear under bizarre names--the Deprived on Earth or the Eagles of the Revolution, it doesn't matter. We will know how to detect it and respond against the power players.