Defense Minster Ehud Barak told the Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot Wednesday that he is against freeing convicted arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who is considered to be the most popular person among the Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. In his first interview with a newspaper since taking office eight months ago, he said, "I really can't sympathize with the whole Barghouti issue. This is a man who was sentenced by the Israeli courts to five consecutive life terms for murdering Jews. Past governments have created a reality in which certain Israelis, serious people, are talking to him. I'm not convinced that courting an arch-killer was such a stroke of genius."
The former IDF Chief of Staff, who was Prime Minister in 2000 when he ordered the sudden withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanon, revealed that Hizbullah has more than regained its stockpile of weapons that it held before the Second Lebanon War. "When the war broke out in 2006, they had 14,000 rockets, some ranging to Hadera," he said. "Now they have 40,000 rockets that can reach your house, here [the Defense Ministry's Tel Aviv headquarters] and Dimona…. We have to stop thinking that freeing Barghouti, and striking Hamas will result in a truce."
The newspaper did not ask him if the withdrawal from Lebanon left a vacuum that enabled Hizbullah to re-arm and prevent Israel from defeating it in the war. The Defense Minister also is chairman of the Labor party.