"But the aftereffects of the war are very much with us," said Uriel Reichman, a Kadima party member. "Olmert leaves behind grave damage to Israel's power of deterrence in the region and a feeling of demoralization and lost hope at home."
To be fair, Israel's border with Lebanon has been quiet since the war. And Israel reasserted its strength last year by bombing a suspected nuclear facility in Syria.
Olmert will have a harder time salvaging his honor from the taint of scandals that are likely to be his darkest legacy.
Though not charged with any crime, he faces allegations that in previous public positions he took tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in cash-stuffed envelopes; used his office to benefit cronies and get a discount on the price of a home; and billed multiple state agencies and charities for the same flights, using the extra money to pay for family vacations.
Although Israel's four previous prime ministers faced ethics complaints over their dealings with foreign donors, the outcry over Olmert was unparalleled, reflecting a growing popular disgust with corruption.
One sign of the repercussions is the fact that that Livni's reputation for honesty has boosted her in the polls as the favorite to lead Kadima.
"If it is possible to find a positive side to the Olmert scandals," said an editorial in the newspaper Haaretz, "it is the hope that they will serve as a point of departure for preventing future embarrassments at the highest levels of the Israeli government."
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boudreaux@latimes.com
