The message is more important than the messenger
Op-ed: Sima Kadmon argues that although we must remember that Ehud Barak is not to be trusted, Israelis must listen to what he said regarding Netanyahu at the IDC conference last week.
The man who returned to our lives last weekend, Ehud Barak, definitely doesn't have Alzheimer's. But neither do we. We haven't forgotten that even with all his pointed criticism of Netanyahu, he was also at one point a high ranking official in Netanyahu's government little more than three years ago.
And not just any government official – he was the defense minister. To keep his title, he divided the labor party so drastically that its effects are still felt in the opposition to this day.
We haven’t forgotten that "there is no partner" (after the collapse of the Camp David peace talks with the Palestinians), the "old woman in the hallway" (regarding overcrowding of hospitals during Barak's term as prime minister), and the dawn of a new day which was supposed to shine upon us. We haven't forgotten how, with his own hands, he annihilated all of the hope which he gave us.
Yet here Barak is again – like a casual tourist, a momentary guest, an occasional commentator; one that really doesn't have much to say, and one who no one really talks to.
He is arrogant, full of confidence, gives interviews with his nose in the air, and enjoys every moment he's in the spotlight.
What can we do? We're superficial people, and we tend to focus on the symptoms rather than the disease. How can we take the remarks he made the conference in Herzliya seriously, or his comments on Channel 2 seriously, without taking into account the fact that he looks like such a hipster. He comes as a preacher and a prophet of doom who comes into our living rooms to warn us, to squeeze us from our chairs, to rile us up into a popular revolt.
However, all of this must be said to highlight the fact that despite all of this, he is right. His appearance at the conference was outrageous, but what he said was true. It doesn't really matter if what he said is an experiment or another way for him to manipulate the public or see how desperate we are.
We also can't forget that what Barak said joins a long line of detractors who have had exposure to Netanyahu. The general feeling amongst the Israeli public is that enough is enough, and that something bad is going to happen, and that we need to come to our senses. We need to save the country. Barak is perhaps one of the last people who understands the depth of the danger posed by Netanyahu.
We must separate the man from his personality – separate between what we think about Barak and what he says.
If only it wasn't Barak who said all of these things, but people from inside the Netanyahu government, like with the horrific stories which we are hearing about the deeds of his family. Yet it seems this won't happen, or it will only happen when Netanyahu is lying on the ground bleeding.
But at the end of the day, its good that one of the gatekeepers who was appointed to protect us finally rose up and said what needs to be said. Even if it is Ehud Barak.
