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Last update - 18:53 18/11/2008 The fall of the generals By Yoel Marcus Tags: Labor News, Ehud Barak Since the days when Israeli generals were worshipped like gods, the days of the Six-Day War victory albums, it is hard to find a lieutenant general or major general who has doffed his uniform and chalked up success in the world of Israeli politics and statesmanship. Generals were cult figures in the state's first two decades, highly prized in the public sector. They were perceived as invincible, as stars in the Israeli firmament. And then came the great letdown - the War of Attrition, which showed that the wisdom and power of military commanders had their limits, and the Yom Kippur War, which proved that the Israel Defense Forces and its officers were not above reproach. Since then, blind admiration for ex-generals has steadily declined. From time to time we hear about celebrated generals who turn out to be pretty dumb in civilian life, and we wonder how they could have been so highly thought of in the army. Advertisement I can list the names of quite a few of these illustrious generals, starting with Yigal Yadin, who was perceived at the time as a kind of de Gaulle, part of a "national reserve" that would rally around the flag when duty called. That call came just as the corrupt Mapai party was about to fall. Very soon it became clear that Yadin was better as an archaeologist than a leader. After him, Yitzhak Mordechai and Amnon Lipkin-Shahak tried their hand at politics, founding the dud known as the Center Party. Idolizing generals was understandable after the Six-Day War, but there is a limit to everything. As defense minister under Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon brought us the first Lebanon war, followed by a wild settlement spree in Judea and Samaria. As Golda Meir's defense minister, Moshe Dayan, the great hero of the Six-Day War, never saw the Yom Kippur War coming even though the writing was on the wall. Moving to politics from the top of the military pyramid is no simple matter after spending 30 years in an authoritarian military milieu where decisions are not democratic. In politics, there are no orders from above that everyone must obey. To climb to the top, you need to build a coalition, run in the primaries and consider what the public thinks. An officer who goes from military man to civilian must look all around him - right, left, up and down - to decipher who is a friend and who is an enemy. Even more importantly, he must take a good look at himself. Is he as exceptional in the eyes of voters as he is in his own eyes? I have often wondered how Ami Ayalon and Avi Dichter, who were considered such successful Shin Bet chiefs, could turn out to be such lousy politicians. As minister of public security, Dichter never missed an opportunity to flub things up. The political illiterate, some called him. Ayalon not only rehabilitated the Shin Bet after Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, but was a brilliant commander of the navy. What happened to this guy? How did he turn into this space cadet? This person nobody can figure out after his announcement this week that he is quitting Labor because the party has lost its way. "The mistakes I made came from accepting the rules of the game and conveying fuzzy messages in order to get elected; from agreeing to fight only in closed rooms, like shooting from inside an armored personnel carrier," Ayalon said cryptically at the press conference where he announced his resignation. "I prefer to say what I have to say. I haven't changed my political outlook, but I am not prepared to distort the message. The path I choose has to be the one I believe in. I am not prepared to run in the Labor primary or serve as a Knesset member on behalf of this party." The Labor party's response was to call Ayalon a tireless flip-flopper and opportunist. He declares himself a man of integrity and says he is not willing to represent the Labor Party in the Knesset, but in the very same breath he says he will not resign from the Knesset or government. A strange sort of integrity, this idea of moving to a dovish religious Zionist party like Meimad with all your goods in tow. Look at the leap from party to party by Uzi Dayan, for example, who is now joining Likud. Or Shaul Mofaz, who was going to run for Likud chairman a few years ago, then changed his mind the next day and switched to Kadima. Now they had to seduce him with second place on the Kadima list to keep him from somersaulting from Kadima to Likud and back again. Once we thought that generals knew how to read the map and navigate. Uzi Dayan and Ayalon can't figure out where they're going. Too bad they haven't invented a GPS for retired generals yet. Israelis today are more moderate in their outlook. They really want to reach an agreement with the Palestinians - much more so than the ex-generals. But Ehud Barak as the man at the top is driving the country and government crazy. On the one hand, he proposes strengthening the West Bank settlements, and on the other, he says no to a military operation in Gaza. Betwixt and between, he causes the Labor Party to go up in smoke. Barak proves every day that he is part of the problem. As the stock market crashes and the banks collapse, the fall of the generals makes the loudest noise of all. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Iran arrests blogger Hossein Derakhshan admitted to spying for Israel, claims Iranian Web site. Peace through sport Jewish and Arab youngsters are finding common ground through Hand in Hand.   1.   A good leader 11:14  |  Shtarka 18/11/08   2.   Yeah! Yoel is unfortunately right. 11:56  |  S 18/11/08   3.   Military vs. political authority 14:08  |  Jim 18/11/08   4.   Why? 16:18  |  Mark Lincoln 18/11/08   5.   somehow this piece of mr. marcus reminds me of... 18:19  |  saul a. readner 18/11/08   6.   The faa of the Generals 00:58  |  Mickey 19/11/08   7.   Yaalon, a man of personal integrity and ability, 09:40  |  Yaakov K. 19/11/08   8.   The fall of the generals 12:34  |  sam 19/11/08

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