Love at First Wonk

Who is smarter, U.S. President Bill Clinton or Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak? James Carville, who has served both men, had to think a minute. "Barak is probably the most unique person I've met in terms of his range of skills," he explains. "Clinton is brilliant but nowhere near the mathematician or musician that Barak is." Then again, Carville notes, the President has astonishing people skills.

That combustible mix of charm and intellect was on vibrant display last week as the two men grinned their way from photo op to photo op, cementing what they clearly hope will become a fast friendship of mutual interest and political romance. Eager for breakthroughs in the Middle East peace process, Barak and Clinton orchestrated a public embrace meant to persuade Israelis that with a strong ally in Washington they can afford the concessions new treaties will demand.

In his relations with Clinton, Barak hopes for what his mentor, assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, had achieved--direct, instant and frequent access to the President. In the weeks after his election, Barak resisted approaches of lesser U.S. officials, such as special envoy Dennis Ross, preferring to wait for a White House chat. Nor did Barak want his subordinates running relations. In a confidential memo, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright advised Clinton that the ex-general was secretive and didn't have a large circle of aides "who knew his mind." A one-on-one relationship with Barak, she said, would be "extremely important."

Clinton evidently took her words to heart. In their first session at the White House, he and Barak met for 2 1/2 hours with no aides present, not even a notetaker--a highly unusual format. Then the two men and their wives choppered to Camp David for a sleepover. After a chatty, getting-to-know-you fish dinner, the two leaders adjourned for a discussion on a range of issues including terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, while Hillary and Nava Barak discussed their own shared interests in women's health issues. Clinton took the couple on a stroll through Camp David, which figures so prominently in Israeli history. As he showed them the cabin where the Camp David accords were negotiated, the two men shared recollections of Rabin. Shortly after 1 a.m., the party retired, their friendship cemented and their historic mission clear, locked up by Barak's assurance that Israel was prepared to make "painful compromises" for peace.

That was good news to Clinton, who is hungry for a foreign policy triumph. Barak is also eager for a fast peace, before a White House change of guard disrupts Washington's ability to facilitate new deals. Throughout the trip, both sides insisted that Barak's election signaled a departure from the obstructionist policies of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After the first meeting of Clinton and Barak, the President told aides Barak was a leader "who will be scrupulous in terms of living up to his obligations." The unspoken appendix: "unlike Netanyahu."

The relationship won't be friction free. Barak wants Clinton close--but behind him, not in his way. He wants Washington to step back from its role of negotiating and supervising Israeli-Palestinian agreements. He hopes to deal directly with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. That makes the Palestinians edgy. "Barak wants to have a wrestling match without a referee," says a Palestinian official. Which is why Washington won't disengage completely. Explains a U.S. official: "This is a bicycle in need of training wheels."

Before Barak's arrival, Clinton, expressing his enthusiasm for working with the Prime Minister, said he felt like "a kid with a new toy." The idiom translated badly in Israel, where commentators complained that Clinton was patronizing their leader. In Washington, Barak came to his new friend's defense. Now, he said, was not the time to give "tricky interpretations to innocent statements." Surely there will be plenty of time for that later.