Barak: Peace Begins At Home

When Alice in Wonderland told the White Queen that "one can't believe impossible things," the Queen said something Israel's Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak might take to heart: "Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!"

Barak has already believed - and done - one impossible thing: he ran successfully against one of the most talented political campaigners on the planet, beating Benjamin Netanyahu decisively in elections on May 17.

Now he's trying to do another impossible thing - unite Israel's quarreling, snarling political parties and the various sectarian interests they represent, into a broad coalition government.

CBS News Correspondent Jesse Schulman

The late Yitzhak Rabin governed with a narrow majority, and relied on the votes of Arab splinter parties to keep the peace process moving (about a million of Israel's citizens are Arab). Rabin's reliance on a "non-Jewish majority" infuriated Israeli hardliners, who considered it to be treason to the Jewish State. Barak is eager to avoid a similar predicament.

But who can he bring on board? Lately the talk is of a deal with the vanquished Likud party, until this week led by Benjamin Netanyahu. But that would mean a cabinet job, maybe even Foreign Minister, for the Likud's new leader, ex-General Ariel Sharon.

Palestinians and even a fair number of Israelis consider him a war criminal. His larger-than-life military career contained more than its share of both heroism and brutality. As Netanyahu's Foreign Minister, he bragged about his refusal to shake Yassir Arafat's hand, and urged radical Jewish settlers to seize more West Bank land. Could this man sit in a cabinet that was elected to make peace?

Another possible coalition partner is Israel's party of bitterness, known as "Shas," the self-proclaimed champion of the disadvantaged, and in particular of so-called Sephardi Jews, who came to Israel from Middle Eastern countries.

Shas' entire reason for existence is based on resentment of the European-Jewish "Establishment" - of whom Ehud Barak is a prime representative. Shas' charismatic leader is a convicted bribe-taker, their rank and file is fiercely anti-Arab, and the party's guru is an ultra-orthodox rabbi given to proclamations on such subjects as the status of women that make Rush Limbaugh look like, well, Rush Limbaugh.

Barak's most loyal supporters during he campaign were liberal, pro-peace parties who are fierce crusaders against the influence of ultra-orthodox rabbis on Israel's politics and society. They're a natural for his government - but they've vowed not to join a coalition that has Shas, or any other extremist religious party, as a member.

Most Israelis believe their country urgently needs the broad and stable government Barak is trying to create. Many fear, though, it may be impossible. That's why Ehud Barak would do well to remember the White Queen, and go on believing in impossible things until further notice.

Written by Jesse Schulman
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