William Safire on the importance of Israel’s upcoming election:
So I’m rooting for Arik to win his party’s nomination this week and for Likud to win seats from Labor and from Shas, the fading religious party, in January. Then I’d like to see Bibi take the finance ministry and be given a free hand to yank Israel out of its slump, while the former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky adds his moral force to the foreign ministry. When a peacemaking Arik shakes the hand of independent Palestine’s prime minister, let Bibi and Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Education Minister Limor Livnat (the next Golda) fight it out for Likud leadership.