Believe it or not, after all we went through in the Second Lebanon War, the majority of the public thinks that Israel is a fun place to live. According to a survey conducted by Mina Tzemach, whose results were published last Friday in the mass-circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth, an overwhelming majority of those asked were positively gaga over the country. How would you describe your mood? 86 percent said it's good. How would you describe your economic situation? 67 percent said it's good. Are you sure Israel will exist in the distant future? 74 percent were sure. Did you consider emigrating this year? 76 percent did not. Are you proud to be an Israeli? 84 percent are.

Amid all this patriotic data, Ehud Olmert stands out with a low grade as the country's leader. His famous assertion, "I am not popular," is reflected in the survey as a thus far unchanging fact. In that speech, Olmert added, "but that is my job." What it all adds up to is that despite the right things he has done since his failure in the war, from getting the budget approved to preserving a stable coalition, popularity is still something he lacks.

Having been a Knesset member at 27, he has been involved in politics for 35 years. He has tremendous experience with all the shticks, for good and for bad. He is smart, intelligent and more cautious than people think. Despite the tension with Syria, he repeatedly told a Kadima meeting, "I am calm." As though he were afraid to make a slip of the tongue and refer to President Bashar Assad's allegation about an Israeli penetration of his airspace. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. At least he learned that lesson from his war in Lebanon.