I cannot penetrate the soul of Arafat. I cannot know in advance whether, behind all the masks, he's the kind of leader who can reach an agreement or whether he wants to be the Moses of the Palestinians, staying in front of the river and not crossing into the promised land.
Interpretation
The quote reflects uncertainty about Arafat's true intentions and leadership qualities in a complex situation.
Ehud Barak expresses his difficulty in understanding the true motivations and character of Yasser Arafat as a leader of the Palestinians. He questions whether Arafat genuinely seeks peace and agreement or if he is more inclined to maintain his symbolic role, like Moses, without leading his people to a resolution. This highlights the challenges of political leadership and the complexities of human motives in leadership roles.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about political leadership and the ability to understand complex personalities.
In Israel, there is a peace camp that can convene 200,000 people in central square of this city, on very short notice, and there is a major movement among academics, politicians, thinkers, and public leaders for peace, even at a painful price. On the Palestinian side, you can find them individually here and there, but there is no public movement.
If Israel does not find the way to disengage from the Palestinians, its future might resemble the experience of Belfast or Bosnia - two communities bleeding each other to death for generations.
There is a thin line between peace of the brave and peace of the hostage... between compromise - even calculated risk - and irresponsibility and capitulation.
Israel is much more effective when the Israelis are convinced that we are on the moral high ground: that we are acting not just out of might, but also out of right.
As long as in this territory west of the Jordan river there is only one political entity called Israel, it is going to be either non-Jewish or non-democratic. If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state.
To think that you can - as a Zionist, Jewish independent state at the end of the 20th century - rule over another people for generations without having any consequences - it's ridiculous.
And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, 'I'll get a bigger job, then I'll learn how to be a leader.' But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn't a position, it's a process.
You can buy a person's hands but you can't buy his heart. His heart is where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is.
A councilor ought not to sleep the whole night through, a man to whom the populace is entrusted, and who has many responsibilities.
We may well be the ones Proverbs warns when it reminds us: "Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value the one who speaks the truth." The point is clear: If the people speak and the king doesn't listen, there is something wrong with the king. If the king acts precipitously and the people say nothing, something is wrong with the people.
With regard to narrow passes, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.
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