I’ve looked forward to this long overdue moment since the end of the Second Lebanon War, but as in many things you anticipate keenly, the reality is a bit of a letdown. Ehud Olmert’s leave-taking was so drawn out and his replacement’s unappealing new government hardly inspires confidence for the future. Still, I’m pleased the accidental prime minister, who replaced the stricken (and still comatose) Ariel Sharon, has finally left office – but how long for?

Given the comebacks of Bibi, Barak, Benny Begin and Dan Meridor, to name but a few, I can’t believe Olmert won’t one day return to the Knesset. How often have we seen MKs take time out from politics, only to see them back again? Maybe even doing time, if that’s what awaits Olmert, won’t prevent a comeback.

In Britain, failed or disgraced parliamentarians don’t get a second chance to return as backbenchers, let alone as leader. And once an MP retires from parliament, he or she rarely, if ever, makes a comeback.

That’s not the case in Israel. Here, politicians think they have the job for life, regardless of how they perform. We desperately need new MKs who are capable of thinking outside the box, rather than the same old lawmakers who are determined to stay in the Knesset until they carried out in one.