Ehud Barak Pays Lightning Visit to Harvard

An international tourist who visited Harvard’s campus Monday declined to rub John Harvard’s shiny left foot.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who once had access to the highest levels of his country’s vaunted intelligence services, clearly knew the story behind the statue’s mysterious sparkle.

“Perhaps he’d been forewarned,” offered Sean W. Coughlin ’06, a Crimson Key Society member who served as tour guide to the stocky ex-general.

Barak, a Stanford-trained engineer who led Israel from 1999 to 2001, paid a visit to University President Lawrence H. Summers at Mass Hall Monday morning.

University spokesperson Joe Wrinn said that the two men met privately and did not disclose the substance of their discussion.

Barak, whose last name is Hebrew for “lightning,” also joined Coughlin for a whirlwind 40-minute tour of the Old and New Yards.

“I showed up at Mass Hall at 10:20 on Monday and I had no idea who I was giving a tour to,” Coughlin said.

When Barak emerged from his meeting with Summers, “I didn’t have time to be shocked,” said Coughlin. “I had a job to do.”

Although Crimson Key members frequently show foreign dignitaries around Harvard, Barak is the most prominent international figure to take one of the group’s tours in recent memory, according to Jody M. Kelman ’05, marshal’s office coordinator for the society and also a Crimson comper.

The most prominent dignitary Coughlin had previously shown around campus was the president of the University of Cambodia.

Barak, who toured Harvard with his wife and one bodyguard, seemed particularly interested in the Dalai Lama’s September visit and “in Memorial Church as an interfaith center of campus,” said Coughlin, who is also a Crimson editor.

Barak’s visit to Harvard did not include a public appearance, much to the disappointment of Harvard Students for Israel President Joshua Suskewicz ’05.

“It would have been great for him to hold a public lecture because he is a brilliant guy who can bring a unique perspective to understanding the current reality in the Middle East,” Suskewicz said.