Demirağ was allegedly a Counter-Guerrilla, contracted by the movement's hawkish leader, General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu.

He is also one of the Gulf's most hawkish leaders on relations with the Islamic Republic across the narrow waters of the Gulf.

Mr. Sharon, the hawkish Likud leader, won a landslide victory last week on a promise of restoring security to Israelis.

The journey was the message, and President Sadat's courageous visit brought even many of Israel's most hawkish leaders to accept the Camp David negotiations and accord.

This inherent division between a relatively dovish party and hawkish leader has contributed to a blurring of important issues.

On the elections, Mr. Barak, whose government is in disarray, is in effect pitting his peace efforts against the hawkish leader of the right, Ariel Sharon.

Mr. Sharon, hawkish leader of the Likud Party, seeks a broad, supermajority coalition so that he can survive atop an unruly Parliament composed of 18 factions.

Without a last-minute peace deal, polls indicate that Mr. Barak would lose the election to Ariel Sharon, the hawkish leader of Likud.

Interestingly, more hawkish Israeli leaders fare better.

He said Mr. Sharon would not be "making a historic change as Menachem Begin did," a reference to the hawkish Israeli leader who signed the Camp David peace treaty with Egypt in 1979.