Former prime minister Ehud Barak launched his political comeback on Sunday night with an speech to a sympathetic audience of 150 mostly elderly kibbutzniks at Kibbutz Afikim in the Jordan Valley. The modest kibbutz cafeteria was a symbolic choice for Barak, who wants to prove to the Labor members voting in the May 28 party primary that he has become more a more modest man since leaving the Prime Minister's Office, despite the wealth he earned in the business world during his break from politics. Barak said that if elected, he would lead Labor as part of a team, having learned from his time as prime minister when he was criticized for not delegating authority. He included his competition, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and MK Ophir Paz-Pines, among the team, but he also criticized the candidates running against him for being too leftist to win a general election. "Yitzhak Rabin and I got elected because we were perceived as coming from the Center," Barak told the crowd. "Some of the candidates are considered radical leftists. You cannot win an election in the State of Israel with leftist policies."
Barak slammed Peretz, saying he "does not think Labor should have only a socioeconomic policy, [one] that is above all other policies." In criticizing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet, Barak said, "It is wrong to get stuck in a competition over who has a prettier diplomatic plan."