A Conversation With Ehud Barak

Prime Minister [Ehud] Olmert and President Bush are now trying to do what you tried to do with [Bill] Clinton during his last year in office. . . . Do you think it's possible to achieve peace in the next year?

Every attempt to reach peace makes sense in Israel. We always have to act if we can have a breakthrough. . . . When I dealt with it, there was [Yasser] Arafat. We doubted whether he was willing, but there was no doubt that he was able. Here we have two [Palestinian leaders] who look moderate -- [President] Abu Mazen and clearly [Salam] Fayyad, who is very good, like an American executive. . . . They are both willing and ready, but there is a great question mark as to whether they are able [to deliver]. They control only half of their people.

. . . There has never been a shortage of goodwill on Israel's side. What we have found is that the Palestinian side is unable to live up to the most basic commitments; stopping indiscriminate terror against our civilians.

So the Palestinian leadership must control both territories, not just the West Bank?

We are not going to give up our operational freedom for anti-terror activity in the West Bank as long as there is a threat of terror.

As long as Hamas is in Gaza?

Yes, as long as Hamas is in Gaza and terror activities are taking place in the West Bank. We are focusing on the nature of a permanent agreement, not about how to fight terror.

Aren't the Americans and the international community pushing you to ease checkpoints?

Yes, they are pushing that. We are doing it from time to time but only with one constraint -- we will not do anything that will [weaken] Israel.

You expected that once Israel had left Gaza, there would be no violence from Gaza aimed at Israel?

Most Israelis expected that once Israel was out of Gaza . . . they would concentrate on building their own economy and their own lives. But Hamas took over and things became worse. There has been continued shelling of our cities, especially . . . Sderot. There is indiscriminate shelling of civilians.

No sovereign government would accept this without responding.