Daniel Lubetzky

Ehud Olmert died in the war and was buried in investigations. The two years under his governance since the war were not so bad. He knew how to run the Government, knew how to converse with world leaders, made some important security decisions and prepared the ground for peace. Soon, under Mofaz, Livni or Bibi, they will start to reminisce.

Nahum Barnea in Yediot Aharonoth

Livni is elegant and straightforward and similarly sincere in her efforts to achieve peace as Israel’s strategic imperative.  But many are concerned she will not be able to maneuver the political corridors. 

Barak is not mentioned above. I used to be a big fan of his, in sharp opposition to popular Israeli opinion that he was too self-centered and all-knowing. I thought he got a bad rap back then.  The problem I now detected in him is that he put himself ahead of Israel when, according to one of his closest advisors, he undermined all possible negotiations with the Palestinians for his political advantage (ever since he joined the coalition).

Bibi just scares me.  As strong as he is on the economy, he has proven to be more about himself than about Israel, and, rooted in prejudiced views, he plainly dismisses the strategic imperative or sheer possibility of Israel-Arab peace.

Mofaz I don’t know enough about but in the corridors of the Knesset all I hear is that he is more obtuse than Olmert and not nearly as filled with strategic conviction about Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.