For Israel's Olmert, scraping by is a strategy

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Facing a scathing interim report on his conduct of the 2006 Lebanon war, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert boasted last year he was "indestructible".

Many Israelis scoffed at that, hearing what sounded like the desperate bluster of an unpopular career politician who had been propelled to power by the illness of his predecessor, ex-general Ariel Sharon, and then failed to pass muster on the battlefield.

But Olmert survived. And after the Winograd Commission of inquiry spared him serious censure in a final report delivered on Wednesday, he looks likely to continue defying calls from foes and even some allies to quit or hold early elections.

The reprieve came as little surprise to analysts who say the 62-year-old marathon runner's strategy often amounts to devising way of scraping by crises -- including cancer -- as they come.

"He has been the eternal death-row inmate of Israeli politics. And now, as we gather before the guillotine in the town square, we learn that the defendant has fled," said Maariv newspaper's Ben Caspit. "Olmert will not fall. Not now, anyway."

Olmert's critics had held little hope of the Winograd Commission demanding his ouster, noting that the prime minister had hand-picked the panelists. There were those who suggested the 17-month lag in issuing the report was due to deliberate government delays designed to dull public memories of the war.

But Olmert has also built a broad coalition government and a booming economy, and has the backing of U.S. President George W. Bush, who hopes, in his last year in office, to see the Israeli leader make peace with the Palestinians.

Furthermore, Olmert lacks clear potential challengers. His most obvious rival in government, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, has signalled he won't break rank.