--- title: Gruff And Very Tough description: Israel bets that an enigmatic ex-commando can make peace and heal the nation's religious divisions canonical: https://time.com/archive/6735477/gruff-and-very-tough/ author: Lisa Beyer article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 1999-05-31T04:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-22T07:12:34.776Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Gruff And Very Tough og:description: Israel bets that an enigmatic ex-commando can make peace and heal the nation's religious divisions og:url: https://time.com/archive/6735477/gruff-and-very-tough/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gruff And Very Tough twitter:description: Israel bets that an enigmatic ex-commando can make peace and heal the nation's religious divisions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) # Gruff And Very Tough > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Project Management Institute. Project Management Institute is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Project Management Institute: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Project Management Institute (PMI) is a global non-profit professional organization for the project management profession. Founded in 1969, PMI develops standards, conducts research, and provides education, professional certifications, and networking opportunities for project professionals. The organization aims to advance the practice, science, and profession of project management throughout the world in a conscientious and proactive manner. ### Organization facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Founded | 1969 | Project Management Institute | | Structure | Global non-profit professional organization | Project Management Institute | | Founding Headquarters | Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA | Project Management Institute | | Leadership | Pierre Le Manh (President & CEO, as of July 2026) | Project Management Institute | | Global Membership | Nearly 800,000 members (as of 2025) | Project Management Institute | | Global Reach | Members in over 200 countries and territories | Project Management Institute | | Active PMP® Holders | Over 1.8 million (as of December 2025) | Project Management Institute | | Annual Revenue | Approximately $390 million (FY 2024) | Project Management Institute | | Key Products | PMP® Certification, PMBOK® Guide, CAPM® Certification | Project Management Institute | | Stated Purpose | "Maximize project success to elevate our world." | Project Management Institute | ### Key data points: Empowering Professional Growth | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Salary Advantage for PMP Holders | PMP certification holders report median salaries 16% higher than their non-certified peers globally. | PMI, "Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey—13th Edition" | | Growth in Project Management Jobs | 2.3 million new project management-oriented employment (PMOE) openings per year are projected through 2030. | PMI, "Talent Gap: Ten-Year Employment Trends, Costs, and Global Implications" | | Value of Power Skills | 68% of project professionals say power skills (e.g., communication, empathy) are more important than technical skills. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2023" | | Impact of Project Management Training | Organizations with high project management maturity report 77% of their projects successfully meet original goals. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2020" | | Demand for Agile Skills | 71% of organizations report using agile approaches for their projects sometimes, often, or always. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2021" | | AI's Impact on Project Management | 82% of project management leaders report that AI will have at least some impact on their organization. | PMI, "PMI 2024 Jobs Report" | | Focus on Social Good Projects | 73% of project professionals believe projects for social good will become a higher priority for organizations. | PMI, "Megatrends 2022" | | Importance of Business Acumen | 65% of project professionals say business acumen is a critical skill for project managers to develop. | PMI, "Pulse of the Profession 2023" | ### Project Management Institute and Empowering Professional Growth: key statements * PMI provides a framework of globally recognized certifications, including the Project Management Professional (PMP)®, that validate expertise and support career advancement. * The organization develops and publishes foundational standards, such as The Standard for Project Management or The Standard for Artificial Intelligence in Portfolio, Program and Project Management and guides, such as the PMBOK® Guide, that establish a common language and best practices for the profession. * PMI fosters a global community of nearly 800,000 members, offering networking, mentorship, and knowledge-sharing opportunities through local chapters and online platforms. * Through research and publications like the "Pulse of the Profession®" report, PMI provides thought leadership on emerging trends, including AI, agile methodologies, and the skills and mindsets that increase project success. * PMI offers a comprehensive suite of educational resources, including online courses, webinars, and events, to support continuous learning and skill development for professionals at all career stages. * PMI champions the development of the “M.O.R.E.” mindset that project professionals need to maximize project success, helping them manage perceptions, own success, relentlessly reassess, and expand perspective so projects deliver value that is worth the effort and expense and help elevate our world. * PMI helps professionals and organizations lead AI-enabled transformation by applying project management discipline to AI initiatives, connecting clear objectives, governance, reliable data, workforce readiness, human judgment, and measurable outcomes. * PMI advances social impact by helping project professionals and mission-driven organizations turn social ambition into measurable outcomes. Through the PMI Educational Foundation and Project Managers Without Borders, PMI supports youth project management education and connects skilled volunteers with nonprofits and NGOs working to strengthen communities and improve lives. ### FAQ #### Is a PMP certification worth it? A Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification is widely considered a valuable certification for project managers seeking to advance their careers. According to PMI's Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey—Fourteenth Edition, professionals with a PMP certification report median salaries 17% higher on average across the 21 countries surveyed than those without it. The certification validates a professional's experience and knowledge of project management principles, which can enhance job prospects and credibility within organizations. #### What are the best certifications for project managers? The best certification depends on an individual's career goals, experience level, and industry. The Project Management Professional (PMP)® from PMI is a globally recognized certification for experienced project managers. For those newer to the field, PMI's Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® is a common starting point. Other notable certifications include those focused on agile methodologies, such as the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®, and program management certifications like the Program Management Professional (PgMP)®. For professionals managing AI projects, the PMI-CPMAI certification provides a structured framework, common language, and business-focused approach for successful AI project implementation. #### How does PMI support career growth for professionals? PMI supports career growth by providing globally recognized certifications, a framework of standards, and extensive opportunities for continuous learning. Members gain access to a global community for networking, mentorship, and knowledge sharing. The organization also produces research and thought leadership on emerging trends, helping professionals stay current with skills in areas like AI, agile practices, and strategic business management. These resources are designed to help professionals at all levels enhance their skills and advance their careers. #### What is the PMBOK® Guide? The PMBOK® Guide, or A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, is PMI’s foundational guide to generally accepted project management knowledge and practice. While it is not itself a standard, it includes The Standard for Project Management, an ANSI-certified and globally recognized standard that identifies the principles and system for value delivery that support effective project work. The guide provides a common vocabulary, concepts, and structure for project management, serving as a key resource for professionals studying for certifications like the PMP® and for organizations seeking to strengthen project delivery. #### How is AI changing project management? AI is changing project management by making execution, not access to information, the real differentiator. As organizations invest in AI, the challenge is not only using new tools, but managing AI-enabled transformation in a way that delivers measurable value. Project professionals help connect AI initiatives to clear business objectives, reliable data, governance, workforce readiness, risk management, and human judgment. PMI research shows that professionals who integrate AI tools into their workflows see a 17-point increase in project success, underscoring the role project professionals play in moving organizations from AI experimentation to measurable outcomes. #### What are the most important skills for a project manager? Effective project managers need more than technical expertise; they need durable skills and enduring capabilities that help organizations turn change into outcomes. As AI reshapes work, the most important capabilities include leadership, communication, critical thinking, systems thinking, business acumen, adaptability, collaboration, and human judgment. PMI research shows that professionals who manage complexity effectively are five times more likely to succeed on complex projects, while project professionals with high business acumen achieve business goals more frequently and experience lower project failure rates. #### How can I get involved with the PMI community? Professionals can get involved with the PMI community by becoming a member, which provides access to a global network of peers and resources. Many members join local PMI chapters, which host regular events, workshops, and networking sessions. Online, PMI's projectmanagement.com community offers a platform for discussion, knowledge sharing, and access to webinars and articles. Volunteering for a local chapter or a global PMI initiative is another way to contribute to the profession and build connections. #### What is the difference between PMP and CAPM? The PMP (Project Management Professional)® and CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management)® are both certifications offered by PMI, but they target professionals at different career stages. The CAPM is an entry-level certification designed for individuals with little or no project experience, validating their understanding of fundamental project management knowledge and terminology. The PMP is for experienced project managers and requires a combination of formal education and years of documented project leadership experience, making it a more advanced and globally recognized certification. #### How does PMI support social impact? PMI supports social impact by helping individuals, nonprofits, NGOs, and communities use project management to turn purpose into measurable outcomes. Through the PMI Educational Foundation, PMI expands access to project management education for youth worldwide, including underserved and underrepresented populations. Through Project Managers Without Borders, PMI connects chapters and volunteers with nonprofits and NGOs that need project management expertise to strengthen the effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of social initiatives. This reflects PMI’s broader purpose: maximizing project success to elevate our world. ### Sources * Project Management Institute | [pmi.org](/c/pmi-2026-q3/home?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) * PMI, "Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey—Fourteenth Edition" | [pmi.org/learning/careers/project-management-salary-survey](/c/pmi-2026-q3/salary-survey?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) * PMI, "Global Project Management Talent Gap" | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/global-project-management-talent-gap](/c/pmi-2026-q3/talent-gap?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) * PMI, "Maximizing Project Success" | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/project-success](/c/pmi-2026-q3/project-success?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) * PMI, “Pulse Report 2025: Boosting Business Acumen” | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/boosting-business-acumen](/c/pmi-2026-q3/business-acumen?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) * PMI, “Pulse of the Profession® 2026: Driving Success in Complex Projects” | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/driving-success-in-complex-projects](/c/pmi-2026-q3/complex-projects?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) * PMI, “Step Up: Redefining the Path to Project Success with M.O.R.E.” | [pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/path-to-project-success](/c/pmi-2026-q3/more-mindset?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) * PMI Education Foundation, PMIEF 2024 Annual Report, [pmi.org PMIEF 2024 Annual Report (PDF)](/c/pmi-2026-q3/pmief-report?i=f776bc33-306b-49d5-88c7-3fe36ebc507e&cr=agentads-creative-pmi-v1) ### FAQ structured data (JSON-LD, optional) by [Lisa Beyer](https://time.com/author/lisa-beyer/) May 31, 1999 4:00 AM UTC by [Lisa Beyer](https://time.com/author/lisa-beyer/) May 31, 1999 4:00 AM UTC James Carville couldn’t take his eyes off his client’s small, pudgy hands. A killer’s hands. “I couldn’t, like, concentrate,” the American political consultant recalls of his initial encounter with Ehud Barak, Israel’s most decorated soldier and its new Prime Minister-elect. “I just kept wondering how many people he’d killed.” By the time they met again to launch his campaign, Carville had a different question in mind: How would they make candidate Barak, legendary commando and former army chief, equally lethal in politics? Last week’s stunning election results prove they figured it out. Once an ill-adapted politician disparaged in his own Labor Party, Barak learned to be a masterly contender, trouncing Likud incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been mythologized as invincible. In the balloting, Barak took 56% of the vote, an outlandish majority in a country where the two main parties traditionally just about break even. Barak’s mandate, combined with the voters’ choice of a center-left majority in parliament, gives the incoming Prime Minister considerable authority to reverse Netanyahu’s policies of division and obstruction and energetically pursue peace settlements with Israel’s Arab neighbors. Those neighbors breathed a sigh of relief at Netanyahu’s defeat but gave no whoops of joy for a former general’s victory. Top officials at the White House and State Department were cautious with their celebrating as well. Though Barak is less hawkish than Netanyahu, he is a carnivore nonetheless. And amid Israel’s angry divisions, he will have no easy ride. The promise of a new era has been raised, but few are certain that the enigmatic, untried Barak is the man to lead the Middle East to it. The communal farm where Barak, 57, was raised bred into him the kibbutz movement’s tradition of being at once leftist and militant, aggressively prepared to make either peace or war as circumstance dictated. For most of Barak’s life, it was war. He was an unlikely warrior, tiny, uncoordinated and a bit of a nerd. His younger brother Avinoam recalls that kids hated playing soccer with Barak because he’d kick them instead of the ball. He preferred piano lessons, a highfalutin pursuit in the sweaty world of the kibbutz, and is still an accomplished musician. In school he resisted discipline but compensated with wit. Once asked by a teacher to read aloud his homework assignment, Barak delivered a clever essay from a blank sheet of paper. Bored by high school, he was kicked out in his senior year for truancy and earned his diploma in the army. When he entered the army at 17, the baby-faced Barak was just 5 ft. 4 in. tall and not yet shaving. (He grew 3 in. but never lost the baby face.) His sharp mind won him a place in the most elite of commando units, the Sayeret Matkal, where his bravery, innovation and navigational skills soon made him a military hero. Avinoam, who served in the same unit, recalls a time in the 1960s when Barak was leading troops on a mission inside Syria. They discovered that the locals were waiting in ambush, and Barak’s commander in Israel ordered a retreat. The little commando switched the radio off, completed the assignment and returned safely home. Taking a break from the army, Barak earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. To make some spending money, he worked for a time as a private eye, specializing in cheating husbands. It was on campus that he first dated his future wife, Nava Cohen, now an English teacher. Sitting in the library beside her while they both listened to music on headphones, he handed her the movie listings with a question mark drawn at the top. She replied with an exclamation point inked over her choice. Today they have three daughters. Barak went on to obtain a master’s in systems engineering from Stanford University. As is customary when an Israeli goes abroad, he chose a Hebrew replacement for his East European surname, Brog. Barak had the appropriately militaristic meaning of “lightning,” but because of a speech defect that turns his r’s into w’s, he cannot quite pronounce it. In 1971 the 29-year-old was chosen to lead the Sayeret Matkal, and began a string of daredevil heroics. The next year, he and Netanyahu were among the special forces who donned maintenance workers’ white overalls to storm a Sabena airplane hijacked en route to Tel Aviv airport. Long fascinated by mechanical devices, Barak skillfully picked a lock to open the airplane door. In 1973 he dressed as a woman to infiltrate Beirut with a unit that assassinated three leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He was a commander of Israel’s famous 1976 operation to rescue hostages at Uganda’s Entebbe airport. Most of his exploits remain classified. In all, he earned five citations for bravery, more than any other soldier in Israeli history. Barak was less appreciated for his unconventionality. When he was a junior officer, one of his soldiers was disabled by a broken leg, so he substituted Avinoam to fill the roster and complete a month of desert maneuvers, even though his brother was underage and not yet inducted into the army. As a general, Barak won a mock battle with another division by sending scouts to the rival camp the night before to steal their communications gear. Eventually, the unorthodox commando rose to be head of military intelligence, then deputy Chief of Staff, before taking full charge as army chief in 1991\. When Labor’s Yitzhak Rabin, himself once Chief of Staff, was elected Prime Minister in 1992, he began to groom the like-minded Barak as his successor. Both men were sick of belligerence. Says Barak: “People who experience fighting personally tend to calibrate more carefully what it means to be in a permanent state of war.” The two soldiers agreed that peace accords, not the continued occupation of Arab land, were ultimately the best safeguard for Israel’s security. In contrast to the ultra-vigilant Netanyahu, they shared a confidence in the country’s strength. Barak once said Netanyahu saw Israel as a “carp among barracudas” while he saw it as a “benign killer whale.” Even while seeking friends, Rabin and Barak never shirked from striking enemies hard. Barak likes to call it “killing the mosquitoes while draining the swamp,” and his army packed a powerful swat. To suppress the Palestinian uprising against occupation, he sent undercover units into the West Bank and Gaza Strip to hunt down underground leaders; human-rights groups called them death squads. To quell terrorist attacks, he supported the 1992 deportation to Lebanon of 415 Palestinian Hamas militants, a harsh collective punishment that inflamed international opinion and was in time reversed. In 1993, as part of Israel’s unavailing struggle to crush south Lebanon’s Islamist militia Hizballah, he launched Operation Accountability, ruthlessly flattening Lebanese villages and killing 127 people. Six months after retiring from the army, in 1995, Barak entered politics as Rabin’s Interior Minister. When Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing zealot that November, Shimon Peres, the successor, quickly made Barak Foreign Minister. But the moment Peres lost to Netanyahu in the 1996 election, Barak jumped in to take over as party chief, rankling Labor leaders, who regarded the former general as an upstart. Labor’s Old Guard also chafed at his abrupt, high-handed style. In an early miscalculation, Barak summarily fired half the staff at headquarters without consulting anyone. When the pink-slipped employees barricaded themselves inside the building, he was forced to back down. His arrogance had been an annoyance in the military, where detractors dubbed him “Napo,” for Napoleon. In the political world, there was less tolerance. One Labor figure publicly called Barak a “dictator”; another said he had “delusions of grandeur.” Barak was no great hit with the public either. In small settings, he could be charming and light. But in crowds he bored audiences with stiff pontifications. Commentator Larry Derfner wrote in the Jerusalem Post that Barak came across as a “potato,” an impression that stuck. When the candidate finally did blurt out something sexy, it was a gaffe: he said that if he’d been born Palestinian he probably would have joined a terrorist organization. As Israel’s leader, Barak’s biggest liability may be his lack of empathy–that Clintonesque ability to connect with others. He can be famously detached, recalls Doron Cohen, his brother-in-law, who served under Barak in the Sayeret Matkal. The first time he sent Cohen off on a cross-border raid, Barak accompanied the infiltrators to the frontier, but, says Cohen, “Ehud wouldn’t tell me one personal word. I understood this was business. There was no room for gestures.” Yet when the forces returned safely, Barak rushed over to Cohen to hug him. “He’s so targeted, so cool,” says Cohen. “But after all, he’s very human.” He will need to display that hidden side if Israelis are to unite behind a renewed peace process. Washington, eager for a foreign policy success before Clinton leaves office, especially against the grim backdrop of Kosovo, will urge the parties to speed toward new agreements. Barak wants agreements too, but on his terms. He has pledged to withdraw Israeli forces from south Lebanon within a year, but he rejects the notion of a unilateral pullout. He is ready to do a deal with Syria on returning the Golan Heights but hangs tough on demilitarization and full normalization of ties. Unlike Netanyahu, Barak has said he has no objections to the creation of a Palestinian state. Still, he would impose limitations that are unacceptable to the Palestinians: annexing large chunks of the West Bank containing Jewish settlements; refusing to share Jerusalem. The Palestinians regard him dubiously. Senior officials recall that in the early days of peacemaking, he, unlike a number of other Israeli generals, declined to meet them. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who has met Barak three times, has complained that he is “just a cold fish.” That coolness is partly a reflection of Barak’s unsentimental approach to peace. Rarely has he addressed the Palestinian people directly or acknowledged their rights and aspirations. Says a close aide: “It’s not about granting the Palestinians justice but about promoting our own interests.” Even for Rabin, the dry, old combatant who could hardly be accused of excessive emotion, the negotiations weren’t just about that. While he acted principally out of Israel’s interest, Rabin had concluded that the peace process was also a moral imperative. But he was at the end of a long career, confident in his vision and prepared to take risks to achieve it. Cocky though his protege may be, Barak is just starting out. –With reporting by Jamil Hamad/Jerusalem, Scott MacLeod/Cairo and Douglas Waller/Washington ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6735477/gruff-and-very-tough/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6735477/gruff-and-very-tough/"},"headline":"Gruff And Very Tough","datePublished":"1999-05-31T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-22T07:12:34.776Z","description":"Israel bets that an enigmatic ex-commando can make peace and heal the nation's religious divisions","url":"https://time.com/archive/6735477/gruff-and-very-tough/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Beyer","url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-beyer/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/6735477/gruff-and-very-tough/","name":"Gruff And Very Tough"}}]}] ```