Ehud Barak

Ehud Barak became prime minister in 1999 after a long military career, including serving as IDF Chief of Staff and becoming Israel's most decorated soldier. In May 2000 he withdrew Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, ending eighteen years of Israeli military presence there. He also attempted major peace negotiations with Syria and with Yasser Arafat's PLO leadership, culminating in the Camp David summit hosted by President Bill Clinton in July 2000, which ended without an agreement.

His term collapsed with the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000, which brought waves of suicide bombings and heavy violence and destroyed much of the optimism of the peace process. He resigned and lost the special prime ministerial election of February 2001 to Ariel Sharon by a wide margin. Barak's premiership is remembered as ambitious but short and turbulent.