Will Ehud Olmert go the way of Golda Meir?

[bemildred]

Edit: G&M seems to now want registration to read this, I originally got the whole thing to pop up via NewsNow.UK. Sorry, I would not have posted if I thought it required registration.

Ehud Olmert's feeling a lot better today than he did 24 hours ago. In spite of the harsh conclusions contained in the Winograd commission's final report on the execution of Israel's deficient war with Hezbollah in 2006, the Israeli Prime Minister is likely to hang on to his job.

In an ironic coincidence, it was 33 years ago to the day, on Jan. 30, 1975, that another commission issued its report on the conduct of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. That was the war in which Israel narrowly overcame an Egyptian and Syrian surprise attack that nearly led to the young state's demise. Then-prime minister Golda Meir also assumed that she could hold on to power -- but was proven wrong.

In spite of Israel's eventual, impressive victory, public shockwaves over the surprise attack and a casualty toll of 3,000 fuelled a latent sense of insecurity and malaise over the governing Labour Party's rule. As a result, although the Agranat commission's mandate was limited to the military's performance (its report led to the chief of staff's resignation and eventual suicide), a relentless wave of public dissent forced the indomitable Mrs. Meir to resign, which led, just two years later, to the first-time election of the opposition Likud party. Israeli politics has never been the same since.

But Israel of 2008 is different from Israel of 1975. Even though Mr. Olmert heads a flawed decision-making apparatus that's been denounced by the commission, political and public circumstances are such that the undeserving, but wily Mr. Olmert will probably be the beneficiary.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080131.wcoisrael31/BNStory/Front/home