40 Facts About Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001.

Ehud Barak was leader of the Labor Party from 1997 until 2001 and again from 2007 until 2011.

Ehud Barak previously held the posts of defense minister and deputy prime minister under Ehud Olmert and then in Benjamin Netanyahu's second government from 2007 to 2013.

Ehud Barak attempted a political comeback, running in the September 2019 Israeli legislative election as the leader of a new party that he formed.

Ehud Barak's party merged with other parties to form an alliance called the Democratic Union, but the alliance did not win enough seats for him to become a member of the Knesset.

Ehud Barak was appointed Chief of General Staff in 1991, serving until 1995.

Ehud Barak is a graduate in physics, mathematics, and economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Stanford University.

Ehud Barak is the eldest of four sons of Esther and Yisrael Mendel Brog.

On 30 July 2007, Ehud Barak married Nili Priel was born on 25 April 1944 and in a small ceremony in his private residence.

Ehud Barak earned his bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1968, and his master's degree in engineering-economic systems in 1978 from Stanford University, California.

Ehud Barak served in the IDF for 35 years, rising to the position of Chief of the General Staff and the rank of Rav Aluf, the highest in the Israeli military.

Ehud Barak went on the command the 401st armored brigade and the 611st "Pillar of Fire" and 252nd "Sinai" divisions, before his appointment to head the IDF's Planning Directorate.

Ehud Barak participated in the Siege of Beirut, overseeing it from Beirut International Airport.

Ehud Barak later served as head of Aman, the Military Intelligence Directorate, head of Central Command and Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Ehud Barak served as Chief of the General Staff between 1 April 1991 and 1 January 1995.

Ehud Barak was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service and four Chief of Staff citations for courage and operational excellence.

On 7 July 1995, Ehud Barak was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs by Yitzhak Rabin.

When Shimon Peres formed a new government following Rabin's assassination in November 1995, Ehud Barak was made Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ehud Barak was elected to the Knesset on the Labor Party list in 1996, and served as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

In 1999 Ehud Barak gave a campaign promise to end Israel's 22-year-long occupation of Southern Lebanon within a year.

Ehud Barak allowed Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami to attend the Taba Summit with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, after his government had fallen.

On 22 August 1999, Ehud Barak appointed the Tal committee which dealt with the controversial issue of ultra-Orthodox Jews' exemption from military service.

In 2001, Ehud Barak called a special election for Prime Minister.

Ehud Barak left Israel to work as a senior advisor with United States-based Electronic Data Systems.

Ehud Barak partnered with a private equity company focused on "security-related" work.

In 2005, Ehud Barak announced his return to Israeli politics, and ran for leadership of the Labor Party in November.

However, in light of his weak poll showings, Ehud Barak dropped out of the race early and declared his support for veteran statesman Shimon Peres.

Ehud Barak established a company "Ehud Barak Limited" which is thought to have made over NIS 30 million.

Ehud Barak declared that he would not run for a spot on the Labor party's Knesset list for the March 2006 elections.

In January 2007, Ehud 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.

However, on 1 July 2007, Ehud 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.

From December 2008 to January 2009, Ehud Barak led the Israel Defense Forces through Operation Cast Lead in his capacity as Minister of Defence.

However, over the objections of some in the Labor party, in March 2009, Ehud Barak reached an agreement under which Labor joined the governing coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

In January 2011, Labor Party leader Ehud Barak formed a breakaway 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.

In February 2011, Ehud Barak attended a ceremony at the UN for the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

Ehud Barak planned to quit since Operation Pillar of Defense but postponed it until later that year.

Ehud 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".

On 26 June 2019, Ehud 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.

Ehud Barak said he made millions of dollars more from his investments in Israeli real estate properties.

Ehud Barak further said there is no logic to demand of him, after "the natural process in democracy has ended" to not utilize the tools he accumulated in his career to secure his financial future.