More an Actor Than a Leader.(Arafat's failure to lead)

Barak was Israel's prime minister from 1999 to 2001.

When I met Yasir Arafat for the first time,in 1996, I was struck by the contrast between his revolutionary appearance--with his uniform and his gun--and his soft-spoken manner. That hasn't changed. He has a fragile, seemingly helpless physical appearance, but according to Israeli intelligence files he's a corrupt terrorist. I watched him through the gun sights for 20 years, and then spent time with him around negotiating tables at Camp David and elsewhere. I gradually found him to be a sophisticated manipulator, more an actor than a leader, holding a mirror and a weather vane to find his way, rather than a compass.

Arafat is a man of the past. Yes, the Palestinian crowds still cheer for him, and the struggle that preceded the formation of Abu Mazen's government shows that he still retains power. He remains a living symbol of the Palestinian national movement. But since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq, a new chapter in Middle East history has been opened, and it has no natural place for him. Hence, within a year or two, I believe, Chairman Arafat will begin his march into history. He has failed to rise to the challenge of historic leadership, and has thus become a source of tragedy for his own people.

Last week's release of the Roadmap is a demanding, and potentially damaging, challenge to Arafat. It was launched only after Arafat was coerced into accepting the executive triumvirate of Abu Mazen (whose formal name is Mahmoud Abbas), Muhammad Dahlan and Salam Fayad. Abu Mazen, the Palestinian prime minister, will deprive Arafat of some executive power. Dahlan, the minister of internal security, is supposed to crack down on Hamas and Islamic Jihad as well as on Arafat's own Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. And Fayad, the Finance minister, will try to find the Palestinian money that's trickled into the private accounts of Palestinian leaders, and to establish new, transparent and accountable institutions.

They will not have an easy time, mostly because it's not in Arafat's interest for them to succeed. If they implement reforms and move toward reconciliation with Israel, honest Palestinians might wonder who was responsible for the thousands of Palestinian lives that have been lost in a vain attempt to dictate a political solution to Israel through homicidal bombings. As long as Arafat holds power, there will be no Israeli-Palestinian peace. Orwellian double-speak and treachery will ...