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  SPIEGEL Interview with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak: 'Nobody Can Push Me'

SPIEGEL Interview with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak 'Nobody Can Push Me'

Part 2: Stretching out the Left Hand in Peace While Keeping the Right Hand on the Trigger

SPIEGEL: Is there a technical means available to defend yourself from rocket fire?

Barak: Only in the long term. We are now developing a multi-layer interception system. The first layer is the "Iron Dome" which will cover small caliber rockets like Qassams. Then there is the "Arrow" system against longer-range missiles. And we are even thinking about a "Super Arrow" to be able to meet Shihab rockets from Iran. But that is a multibillion euro program, and even the "Iron Dome" will take two and a half years before it is deployed.

SPIEGEL: Syria has announced it will publish a report this week about the assassination of the Lebanese Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh. Is that the reason why you cancelled your trip to Germany?

Barak: The situation on our northern border is a little bit tense at the moment. In such times, as defense minister, I have to stay on the home front. Syria is not the strongest country in the region but it has quite an effective nuissance value. The ally of Syria, the Lebanese Hezbollah, has acquired two or three times more rockets than it had before the war of 2006, and the Syrians have much heavier rockets.

SPIEGEL: Do you anticipate a new armed conflict with Lebanon?

Barak: Israel is still the strongest country for 1,500 kilometers around Jerusalem. We can defeat the Syrians and Hezbollah. But that is not the issue. Israel has a basic interest in settling the conflict with each of its neighbors. We have tried it with Syria several times. We should always be ready to stretch out our left hand in peace while at the same time keeping the right hand on the trigger.

SPIEGEL: The Israeli government sent a series of messages to Damascus. What was the response?

Barak: I do not want to go into the details. We are ready to negotiate peace with Syria. We fully understand the Syrian demands. We have to be sensitive.

SPIEGEL: Is the final price for a peace treaty with Syria the return of the Golan Heights?

Barak: The basic terms of an agreement are clear. But unfortunately I do not see the Syrians as being ready.

SPIEGEL: You were voted out of the prime minister’s office in 2001 and now you are back as head of the Labor Party and as defense minister. Political comebacks like that are far from rare in Israel. Why is that?

Barak: It is probably because in Israel we are a relatively small society under existential threats with high awareness of the complexity of politics. It is not like in the United States where an almost unknown presidential candidate can come from a remote corner called "Hope" and win elections within one year.

SPIEGEL: Do you think you are indispensable?

Barak: No, but after the 2006 war in Lebanon it was clear to me that I had to come back. The hovering arch lesson of the war was that a state like Israel needs somebody with experience at the steering wheel.

SPIEGEL: Asked who was the best prime minister, only 1 percent of the public named you in a recent poll. What makes you believe that you can win elections?

Barak: Even today, after all the terror attacks, the silent majority of perhaps 80 percent of the Israeli public are ready to go very far -- at least as far as I went in Camp David. It is up to the Israeli voters. I strongly believe that the mission justifies the effort.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Minister, we thank you for this interview.

Interview conducted by Hans Hoyng and Christoph Schult.