rapped in
anon

AP/Lau rent Rebours

.44:4444:44.

DAVID LANDAU
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Jerusalem

E

O

0
0

fight months

into what he

himself has

termed the cru-

cial first year of his premier-

ship, Israeli Prime Minister

Ehud Barak is facing serious

unrest in the ranks.

Several of Barak's Cabinet

ministers are publicly airing

their dissatisfaction with the

escalating military situation

in southern Lebanon and

the latest deadlock in the

Israeli-Palestinian talks.

The politicians' murmurings come

as Israeli soldiers, too, voice their own

A Druze cleric chases a masked
stonethrower on Feb. 14 during clashes
with Israeli soldiers following a protest
against Israel's annexation of the Golan,
in Majdal Shams. The Druze town in
Israel is close to the Israeli-Syrian border.

misgivings about the fighting in

Barak faces

Lebanon, where Hezbollah gunmen

have killed at least seven Israeli sol-

diers during the last three weeks.

internal dissent
in wake of latest
peace obstacles.

Taken together, the developments

are prompting renewed questions

about whether Barak's ambitious

plans for regional peace are realistic.

The unprecedented criticism

voiced by active-duty soldiers has hit

particularly hard.

2/18
2000

25

