Who Will Replace Olmert?

Who will succeed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when he resigns in 2 months? Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, known as "Mrs. Clean," is a top candidate and would likely engage Palestine in peace talks, Ian Black writes in the Guardian. Challenging her will be hawkish Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister who recently caused a stir by calling an attack on Iran "inevitable."

A nuclear Iran will be the top issue for whoever replaces Olmert; Israeli leaders across the board have called it an "existential" threat to Israel. Also on the agenda are Palestinian peace talks, which were dragging on and likely will not suffer under new leadership.
Olmert had developed a good relationship with Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader, but Abbas is himself a lame duck who won’t last long. (More Ehud Olmert stories.)