GLOBAL CONNECTIONS: the Near/Middle East
May 18, 1999: Labor Party leader Ehud Barak wins Israel's general elections and becomes prime minister.

Ehud Barak, widely regarded as more amenable to peace negotiations with the Palestinians than the incumbent, Likud prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pledges he will be a prime minister "for all Israelis." He defeats Netanyahu in a divisive campaign.

NPR Barak Wins in Israel
http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display .cfm?segID=50150

Today, Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier, promised to forge a secure peace with the Palestinians, pull troops out of Lebanon in a year, and heal the deep divisions among Israelis. (May 1999)