JERUSALEM AP The political consultant who engineered Bill Clinton's come-from-behind victory in the 1992 presidential race hopes to do the same for the Israeli opposition leader. Campaign adviser James Carville will arrive in Israel next month to talk strategy with Ehud Barak a former armed forces chief of staff and leader of the opposition Labor Party. Barak has failed to pull ahead in the polls despite the repeated scandals that have tarnished Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Carville will work with pollster Stanley Greenberg and media specialist Robert Shrum. The three have contributed to the successful campaigns of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Barak spokeswoman Aliza Goren. ``We have hired this team because we are very serious about winning the elections'' Goren said. She said Israeli Labor Party officials also have met with their counterparts in Germany and Britain to look at campaign strategies there. The next elections are scheduled for 2000 but Netanyahu's coalition is shaky and there is a growing possibility that a vote might be held as early as spring or summer. Hard-liners have been threatening to leave Netanyahu's government over the land-for-security agreement with the Palestinians. Such a defection would rob Netanyahu of his majority in parliament. Without such a majority Netanyahu would either have to call early elections or try to bring other parties into his coalition. Netanyahu has relied on his own U.S. consultant Arthur Finkelstein who helped him narrowly defeat incumbent Prime Minister Shimon Peres in the 1996 elections. Finkelstein has worked for some of America's top conservative politicians including Sen. Jesse Helms a Republican from North Carolina and Sen. Alfonse D'Amato a New York Republican. Netanyahu has flown Finkelstein to Israel several times to advise him in times of political crises. In a heated debate July in parliament Barak accused Netanyahu of being politically out of touch and having to rely on American spin doctors for direction. ``Rather than calling Finkelstein we should think for ourselves and take the path of peace and security'' Barak said at the time. Netanyahu replied that Barak also relied on U.S. advisers and mentioned Greenberg. APW19981201.0587.txt.body.html APW19981201.0908.txt.body.html