#atzmaut

[Jonathan Lis] Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced he will be holding a press conference later Monday, triggering speculations that the veteran politician could make a statement concerning his political future.

Barak, who has been standing at the helm of the Atzmaut part ever since he and four other MKs broke off from the Labor party, of which he was a member since entering political life in 1995.

Barak's popularity waned of late, with polls showing Atzmaut failing even to gain one seat in 2013 elections. However, following a recent spike in popularity following Operation Pillar of Defense, more recent polls show the former defense minister gaining four parliamentary seats.

The defense minister, who served as the IDF's chief of staff between 1991 and 1995, also served as interior minister, under then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and foreign minister, under former Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

In 1999, he was voted prime minister in Israel first, and only, direct election of the head of state. His tumultuous tenure, which included the onset of the Second Intifada in 2000 and Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, ended prematurely in 2001, with the election of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, prompting Barak's exit from political life.