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NEWS
Barak Refused to Bentsch Hagomel
by T. Weiss
In an extended interview, Gilad Sherr, head of Ehud Barak's
office and a member of the team negotiating with the
Palestinians for the Barak government, told of his
frustration during the exhausting and discouraging
negotiations with the Palestinians. During the course of the
interview, he also recounted an enthralling anecdote which
took place at the Camp David Summit, when Israel was almost
left without a prime minister:
"During one of the nights at Camp David, we sat in the prime
minister's lodge and talked late into the night. Sitting in
the office were Rubinstein, Yatom, Ben-Ami and Gidi
Greenstein. As we were sitting and talking, we heard really
loud banging and a sound like the whine of a siren. We
didn't pay much attention to it. All of a sudden we heard
Dani Yatom shout, `Ehud, Ehud.' We ran to the door and saw
Ehud Barak nearly suffocating. A peanut or almond was lodged
in his throat and he was beginning to suffocate, his whole
body wheeling back and forth as he tried to cough, with Dani
Yatom and Ben-Ami pounding him on the back. Then Greenstein
came up behind him and pressed his diaphragm in and then
everything was fine.
"It was very scary, even for the people present in the room
who had already seen everything there is to see in life.
Just a hair's breath stood between having a prime minister
and not having a prime minister. Rubinstein wanted to say
Bircat Hagomel, but Barak wouldn't allow it. With
history hanging in the balance, this episode made it clear
to us what can happen to someone in the blink of an eye."
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