The Honorable Ehud Barak, Former Prime Minister of Israel

Ehud Barak is one of the most recognizable names in Israel. Following a career in the Israel Defense Forces, where he was the most decorated soldier in Israeli history and served as Chief of General Staff, Mr. Barak entered politics and served Israel in several capacities, including Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

As Israel's 10th Prime Minister, Mr. Barak led the country out of a prolonged recession and into an economic boom, with high annual growth and foreign investments, near zero inflation, a halved deficit and significantly decreased external debt. However, the core of Mr. Barak’s government’s effort was devoted to the peace process. In May 2000, Prime Minister Barak ordered the withdrawal of the IDF from South Lebanon, ending 18 years of Israel’s presence there. He led far-reaching efforts to negotiate peace agreements, first with Syria and later with the Palestinian Authority, with the active participation of President Bill Clinton and his administration. Regrettably, these negotiations did not result in the breakthroughs necessary to conclude final agreements.

Mr. Barak was recently bestowed the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award by U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. In 2012, Foreign Policy magazine named him 13th among its 100 Global Thinkers. He is a graduate in physics, mathematics and economics from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Stanford University.