Only a month after he took over from his right-wing predecessor, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, the political honeymoon is over for the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak.
Propelled to power in an election campaign which focused largely on character, Mr Barak is now being widely portrayed in the same light as his predecessor: a go-it-alone ruler with a "father-knows-best" attitude.
Palestinians accuse him of trying to dictate new terms for a land-for-security deal, saying Mr Barak is using the kind of stalling tactics employed by Mr Netanyahu.
Among Israelis, critics say Mr Barak - the country's most decorated soldier and regarded as a brilliant military strategist - seeks only his own counsel.
"I knew he would be just like Netanyahu," complained one participant at a weekend social gathering, echoing bumper stickers which have begun to appear with slogans comparing Mr Barak to the man he defeated in May.
It was the coffee and cake stage which ends a typical Israeli Friday night get-together and three couples were trying to find something nice to say about Mr Barak.
Forks and cups hung in the humid summer air as the middle-aged friends, all Barak supporters in the prime ministerial election in May, pondered the personality of the former army chief.
"His wife is terrific," one woman finally blurted out after an awkward pause. There were assenting nods around the table as the eating and drinking resumed.
Even the left-wing Ha'aretz newspaper, which revelled in Mr Netanyahu's defeat, has begun sniping at the former general who, Israeli media reports say, some army colleagues used to call "Napo" - short for Napoleon - behind his back."Fear of `Barakyahu'," said a headline in Ha'aretz.
In a country where impatience is a national characteristic, the almost two months which Mr Barak took to put together a broad-based coalition stirred gnawing feelings of unease.
His decision to hold his coalition cards close to his chest during the lengthy bargaining rankled with senior members of his core Labour Party and fuelled public uncertainty about his intentions.
"Barak was elected in direct elections but his over-centralism and disdain for the political power of individuals in his party are set to injure both him and the practice of good government," Ha'aretz said in a recent editorial.
Asked about such criticism on Israel Radio on Saturday, Mr Barak said: "I don't believe that in any previous government, in the first stages of the peace process, have there been the kind of wide-ranging consultations that I have held with my ministers."
He said his recently-expanded cabinet would put to rest talk that he governed alone. "I'm sure these kinds of contentions will be behind us within a few weeks."
Some Israeli commentators say questions about Mr Barak's personality may have more to do with the nation's psyche as the country suffers through a summer heat wave.
"Barak, as the Americans say, looks like he's having the time of his life," columnist Chemi Shalev wrote in the daily Maariv.
"Maybe that's what's killing us about Barak, now, in mid-summer. There's a Jewish expression that says `it's not so terrible to suffer, but why should somebody else have fun'?"
