Olmert's Irrelevance

Therefore, if the prime minister is unable to govern - he has to go. Right or wrong, he has to go. If the country's systems, for which he is responsible, are in a state of disarray, the prime minister needs to go.

This is precisely the point the Olmert government reached this week. On the face of it, this government, which does not rule, had a good week. The bane of the government's existence, Micha Lindenstrauss, made some tactical errors, which gave the prime minister a few points in his favor. For a little while, the horrifying truth behind the way Olmert was running the affairs of the state was silenced.

However, last week was proof that Olmert-led Israel is in utter disarray. There is no policy, no responsibility and no decision-making. There are no morals, no norms, and there is no respect for the law. The home front is not prepared for another war. The Israel Defense Forces is not prepared for another war. No official authority has been established to deal with another war. There is no diplomatic initiative that could prevent the next war.

Against the increasingly growing threats, Olmert's Israel is behaving like an ostrich: It does not see, it does not hear and it does not do. The bug of government negligence is running amok in Jerusalem: an absence of leadership bug, an absence of governance - of anarchy.

This anarchy is what brought us the second Lebanon war. It is what caused the war to be managed the way it was. But much worse is the fact that even after the war, the anarchy continues. It has grown even while the writing is on the wall. Every day of anarchy brings us closer to the next disaster. A catastrophe for which every one who remains silent now is responsible.

Now that the Olmert era has become a nightmare era, the question of whether Olmert is right or wrong is irrelevant.

Ari Shavit in Haaretz