Put that cigar back ehud...

 

 

There are two pictures of outgone Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, which is imprinted on the minds of every Israeli who cares about the country’s sordid politics. The first was a poster displaying faces of two Israeli soldiers, captured by Hezbollah fighters during Israel’s disastrous campaign of Lebanon in 2006; with Olmert proclaiming, “Thy children shall come again to their own border” in a somewhat prophetic gesture. The second is a front page photo on Jerusalem Post with a visibly ashen Olmert puffing a cigar after the first round of interrogation related to graft charges. In a way, these pictures sum up his turbulent career also. Therefore, in the last few months, the abortive end to his career was not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.

Reacting on his resignation, noted political expert from Israel, Gideon Doron told TSI, “It was getting difficult for him to dispense his duties. Even if the graft charges against him are baseless, he’ll have to fight it out till eternity. You simply can not rule after you lose your base of legitimacy. Period.”

A shameful defeat by Hezbollah and a tactical loss in Gaza not only hurt his image but that of his Centrist Kadima Party too, which was started by Ariel Sharon as a rag-tag group of leftists and rightists. The then defence minister and the chief of staff had to make an unceremonious exit. But Olmert managed to hang on a bit longer; in the process further denting the image of Kadima. Who will lead the party next is the key question now. Tzipi Livni, the dovish foreign minister, is presently leading the race but she is closely followed by Shaul Mofaz – a hawkish Sephardic migrant Jew from Iran. However, all the polls pitting them against Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud leader, show them trailing miserably.

On the other hand, the Arab world is feeling jitters resulting from this political tsunami. As an Arab analyst and an old hat puts it, "With Shaul Mofaz there is a good chance for war, and with Tzipi Livni there is a good chance for nothing."