There is no final peace to be had, unless it is the peace of the grave. Above all, his mandate is to restore Israel's deterrent. Barak responded to Palestinian violence by continuing negotiations and offering more concessions. Not surprisingly, a recent poll of Palestinians found that an overwhelming majority believed that the additional concessions Israel made at the last-ditch preelection negotiations at Taba, Egypt, were a result of the violence. Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley and the Galilee are home.
Deterrence also applies, even more dangerously, to the Lebanese front.
When Barak evacuated Israeli troops from Lebanon, he warned that any cross-border attack would be met by Israeli retaliation not just at Hezbollah and Beirut but at the puppet master itself, Syria. True to form, he flinched. Hezbollah is now dug in all along the northern Israeli border, with Katyusha rockets capable of reaching the suburbs of Haifa. It will be Sharon's job to make good on Barak's threat if and when Hezbollah tests his resolve. And that is where the danger lies.