Editing Ehud Barak (section)

===Return to politics===
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Prime Minister and Defense Minister at Weaponry Display.jpg|thumb|233px|right|[[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Israeli Minister of Defense]] Ehud Barak, with Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] after the [[Victoria Affair]], March 2011]]
In 2005, Barak announced his return to Israeli politics, and ran for leadership of the Labor Party in [[2005 Israeli Labor Party leadership election|November]]. However, in light of his weak poll showings, Barak dropped out of the race early and declared his support for veteran statesman [[Shimon Peres]]. Following his failed attempt to maintain leadership of the Labor party, Barak became a partner of the investment company SCP Private Equity Partners, [[Pennsylvania]]. He also established a company "Ehud Barak Limited" which is thought to have made over [[Israeli new sheqel|NIS]] 30 million.<ref>{{cite web|last=Blau |first=Uri |access-date=14 March 2013 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/ehud-barak-ltd-1.221318 |title=Ehud Barak Ltd |newspaper=Haaretz Daily Newspaper |date=24 May 2007 |archive-date=11 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311113557/http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/ehud-barak-ltd-1.221318}}</ref>

After Peres lost the race to [[Amir Peretz]] and left the Labor party, Barak announced he would stay at the party, despite his shaky relationship with its newly elected leader. He declared, however, that he would not run for a spot on the Labor party's [[Knesset]] list for the [[2006 Israel legislative election|March 2006 elections]]. Barak's attempt to return to a prominent role in Israel politics seemed to have failed. However, Peretz's hold on the Labor leadership proved unexpectedly shaky as he was badly damaged by negative views of his performance as Defense Minister during the 2006 Lebanon War, which was seen as something less than a success in Israel.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTA3OTE5NjI0NA |title=Kadima nominates Peres for president |work=Kuwait Times }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

In [[2007 Israeli Labor Party leadership election|January 2007]], Barak launched a bid to recapture the leadership of the Labor party in a letter acknowledging "mistakes" and "inexperience" during his tenure as Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Reuters]] |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-israel-barak-idUKL0776362420070107 |title=Former Israeli PM Barak in New Leadership Bid |date=7 January 2007 |archive-date=17 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017131657/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2007/01/07/uk-israel-barak-idUKL0776362420070107}}</ref> In early March 2007, a poll of Labor Party primary voters put Barak ahead of all other opponents, including Peretz.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/poll-barak-ayalon-lead-peretz-in-the-labor-leadership-primaries-1.214656 |title=Poll: Barak, Ayalon lead Peretz in the Labor leadership primaries |author=Yossi Verter |newspaper=Haaretz |date=3 March 2007 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908202019/http://www.haaretz.com/news/poll-barak-ayalon-lead-peretz-in-the-labor-leadership-primaries-1.214656 |archive-date=8 September 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref> In the first round of voting, on 28 May 2007, he gained 39% of the votes, more than his two closest rivals, but not enough to win the election.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6695007.stm |title=Peretz loses Israeli party vote |access-date=30 May 2007 |work=BBC News |date=3 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422234256/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6695007.stm |archive-date=22 April 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

As a result, Barak faced a runoff against the second-place finisher, [[Ami Ayalon]], on 12 June 2007, which he won by a narrow margin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Barak wins Labor Party primary election: party officials|newspaper=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=12 June 2007}}</ref>

Barak has been critical of what he sees as racist sentiments [[December 2010 Rabbi Letter Controversies|that have recently been expressed by]] some Israeli [[rabbi]]s and [[rebbetzin]]s; he views such statements as a threat to Israeli unity and that they may lead Israeli society into a "dark and dangerous place".<ref name=rabbis>{{cite news|newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=1 January 2011 |date=29 December 2010 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/barak-anti-arab-letters-by-rabbis-and-rabbis-wives-leading-israel-into-dark-place-1.334093 |title=Barak: Anti-Arab letters by rabbis and rabbis' wives leading Israel into dark place |first=Mazal |last=Mualem |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101124410/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/barak-anti-arab-letters-by-rabbis-and-rabbis-wives-leading-israel-into-dark-place-1.334093 |archive-date=1 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Defense Minister====
[[File:Barak - Rice 2007 08 01 israel3 600.jpg|thumb|233px|right|Ehud Barak and [[Condoleezza Rice]] (2007)]]

====As head of the Labor Party====
After winning back the leadership of the Labor party, Barak was sworn in as [[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Minister of Defense]] on 18 June 2007, as part of Prime Minister [[Ehud Olmert|Olmert]]'s cabinet reshuffle. However, on 1 July 2007, Barak led a successful effort in the Labor central committee to stipulate that Labor would leave the government coalition if Olmert did not resign by September or October 2007. At that time the [[Winograd Commission]] would publish its final report on the performance of the [[Israel Defense Forces]] and its civilian leadership. The preliminary Winograd report released earlier this year laid most of the blame on Olmert for poorly planning, executing, and reviewing war strategies in the [[2006 Lebanon War|2006 conflict]] against [[Hezbollah]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Harel|first1=Amos|title=Remember the Second Lebanon War|url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/remember-the-second-lebanon-war-1.450891|newspaper=Haaretz|publisher=Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd}}</ref>

From December 2008 to January 2009, Barak led the [[Israel Defense Forces]] through [[Gaza War (2008–09)|Operation Cast Lead]] in his capacity as Minister of Defence.<ref>{{cite web|title= Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict|publisher=United Nations Human Rights Council|url=http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2009/09/15/UNFFMGCReport.pdf|access-date=13 July 2014|page=106|date=15 September 2009}}</ref>

Labor won only 13 out of the 120 Knesset seats in the [[2009 Israeli legislative election|2009 elections]], making them the fourth largest party. Barak and other Labor officials initially stated they would not take part in the next government. However, over the objections of some in the Labor party, in March 2009, Barak reached an agreement under which Labor joined the governing coalition led by [[Benjamin Netanyahu]]. Barak retained his position as Defense Minister.

====Leaving the Labor Party====
In January 2011, Labor Party leader Barak formed a breakaway party, [[Independence (Israeli political party)|Independence]], which enabled him to maintain his loyal Labor's MK faction within Netanyahu's government, and prevented the departure of Labor party as a whole from Netanyahu's coalition-government. Labor previously threatened to force Barak to do so. After Barak's move, Netanyahu was able to maintain a majority of 66 MK (out of 120 in the [[Knesset]]), previously having 74 MKs within his majority coalition.

In February 2011, Barak attended a ceremony at the UN for the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Barak told the UN General Assembly that "an independent, strong, thriving and peaceful State of Israel is the vengeance of the dead."<ref name="jpost.com">{{cite web|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |title=Barak at UN: Strong Israel is revenge of the Nazis' victims |url=http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=207716 |author=Jordana Horn |date=10 February 2011 |access-date=10 February 2011 |archive-date=23 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023011146/http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=207716}}</ref>

Barak's Independence party was due to run in a [[2013 Israeli legislative election|legislative election]], but decided not to in 2012, and retired from politics. Barak planned to quit since [[Operation Pillar of Defense]] but postponed it until later that year.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23525/Default.aspx?archive=article_title |author=Ryan Jones |title=Ehud Barak drops out of Israeli politics |newspaper=[[Israel HaYom|Israel Today]] |date=26 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022133959/http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23525/Default.aspx?archive=article_title |archive-date=22 October 2013}}</ref>

Barak stated during an American television interview that he would "probably" strive for nuclear weapons if he were in Iran's position, adding "I don't delude myself that they are doing it just because of Israel". This comment has been criticized and compared to Barak's comment in 1998 during a television interview when he said that if he were a Palestinian he would probably have joined one of the terror organizations.<ref>{{cite news|title=Barak criticized over Iran comments |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/premium/loginpage?destination=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/barak-criticised-over-iran-comments-1.13168}}</ref>

In 2023 it was revealed that Barak had visited [[Jeffrey Epstein]] around 30 times from 2013 to 2017 and had also flown on his jet, having first met Epstein in 2003. Barak denied any wrongdoing.<ref>{{cite news |last=ToI Staff |last2=JTA |author-link2=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=4 May 2023 |title=Ehud Barak met with Jeffrey Epstein dozens of times, flew on private plane — report |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/ehud-barak-met-with-jeffrey-epstein-dozens-of-times-flew-on-private-plane-report/ |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |issue= |postscript=. JTA article: Lapin, Andrew. Noam Chomsky, Ehud Barak, Leon Botstein and a Rothschild are among the names on Jeffrey Epstein’s newly uncovered calendar. May 1, 2023. www.jta.org/2023/05/01/united-states/noam-chomsky-ehud-barak-leon-botstein-and-a-rothschild-are-among-the-names-on-jeffrey-epsteins-newly-uncovered-calendar}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Noam Chomsky, Ehud Barak and Woody Allen all met with Epstein after conviction |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/world/noam-chomsky-ehud-barak-and-woody-allen-all-met-with-epstein-after-conviction-vocm1y6d |work=[[The Jewish Chronicle]] |date=2 May 2023}}</ref>

====Return to political life====
On 26 June 2019, Barak announced his return to politics and his intention to form a new party named the [[Israel Democratic Party]], intending to challenge Netanyahu in the [[September 2019 Israeli legislative election]]. The party ran with Meretz and other parties in the [[Democratic Union (Israel)|Democratic Union]] alliance, which received five seats. Barak himself did not enter the Knesset.<ref name=toi/>