In case you were confused by what is going on in the Israeli government, after all, “if Olmert quit, what is he still doing there?” - let me explain.

Yes, Olmert handed in his resignation and Livni is now the head of the Kadima party, but that doesn’t mean Olmert is out of his job as Prime Minister or that Livni is the Prime Minister (yet).

You see, Olmert, by resigning has ensured that he remains Prime Minister for the time being.

Livni now needs to form a government and has 42 work days to do so. During that time Olmert remains Prime Minister, and has the power to fire any cabinet minister he wants (though his general powers are more limited).

If Livni fails to form a government in 42 work days, then in 3 months (or so) after that we go to general elections, all the while as Olmert remains as Prime Minister (not Livni). Though from what I understand, it could take longer than the 3 months.

In short, Olmert needs to hope that Livni fails to form a government, and he keeps his job for at least another 5 months.

Meanwhile, this is a great extortion opportunity for all the other parties like Labor, Shas, and so on. They can make more serious demands from Livni, and the question is whether she will give in to them.

But Ehud Barak (who is also very afraid of elections) apparently already folded in exchange for a commitment that she won’t run to elections right away (she would have an advantage over him as a sitting Prime Minister), and he figures he will be her defense minister (something Netanyahu apparently didn’t promise him last night).

Honestly, I’m not sure what good being Defense Minister does for Barak, does he really want the reputation of running away from Lebanon twice?

Anyway, that’s the government in a nutshell.