Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is unable to run the country not due to the criminal investigations - since they are only in the investigation stage - but because he cannot take the reins and lead. The public's excessive preoccupation with replacing the chief of staff stems from the political-security vacuum, and the defense minister - who is supposed to serve as a liaison between the public and the army - has become almost irrelevant. Instead of immediately dismissing the defense minister and letting his replacement pick the next chief of staff, the latter process is being handled in the flawed manner that has characterized state affairs this past year. Everyone and his office, everyone and his associates, his leaks, his agenda and his caprices. The government looks like a chance gathering without a common cause. Each one to his own, and his future.

If Olmert thought the chief of staff should stay, he should have backed him; if he thought Amir Peretz were the right person for defense minister, he should have worked with him harmoniously. If he thought the Strategic Threats Ministry, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, were not a joke, then he should have assigned it tasks and insisted it be funded. By doing none of this, choosing instead to let things run themselves while he carried on with his behind-the-scenes shenanigans - as if he were still that same Jerusalem wheeler-dealer - Olmert allowed public criticism to accumulate, and is now complaining about it.

A new chief of staff cannot be appointed as long as the defense minister does not have the trust of the cabinet, the public and the army. We cannot wait for the May Labor Party primaries before appointing a new defense minister. If Olmert cannot do this, if he is waiting for the Winograd Committee to present its conclusions first, then one cannot see what purpose his broad coalition - or his government - serve.

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Hopefully the Winograd Committee will address the rushed decision to go to war, which the outgoing chief of staff has already said undermined Israel's deterrent capability. Hopefully the decision-making process will be examined and lessons will be learned, but there is no point in waiting to see who the Winograd Committee sends warning letters. Everyone knows who initiated and managed the war, and we cannot expect new findings or surprises. The public will have its say at the next elections, but until then, the country needs to function.

This is probably Olmert's last chance to get his act together. He has a mandate to replace the defense minister and the government, and to further talks with the Syrians and the Palestinians. However, he has no mandate to become depressed by the poor opinion polls, or to wait for the results of the criminal investigations, the Winograd committee findings, Haim Ramon's court ruling or the Labor primaries. His first mistake was appointing Amir Peretz as defense minister, and he needs to correct it immediately.