Unfortunately, Ehud Barak possesses an almost tragic tendency to make decisions too late, too vaguely, and too much on his own. Even his resolve to spare himself and his party the disgrace of a toppled Knesset was barely adequate, coming as it did in a quasi-dramatic declaration. Barak's announcement rounded off an extremely hectic day in politics - a day in which it became abundantly clear to him that he could not escape what he had sought to avoid. Barak never wanted elections. Alas, reality does not always correspond to dreams, and its limitations must be considered when attempting to actualize those dreams.
Dreams can be plentiful, but actualization is much more rare.
So it was with Barak. Now the elections that he wanted to happen only in November 2003, after a full term in office, are due in another few months - and their outcome is far from clear. But that outcome is still largely contingent upon Barak himself, and on his ability to clip the wings of his dreams and shift his focus to actualizing them. As difficult as the political situation is at present, with the electoral system already swinging into action and election day approaching, Barak and his camp still have one last chance to stay in power. That chance lies in a pure, concentrated and totally focused effort to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.