Those who know, those who talk

The talkers, it turns out, are outside the inner circle. These include Eli Yishai, Ophir Pines-Paz, Yizhak Herzog, Zeev Boim and Roni Bar-On. The quiet ones, Shaul Mofaz, Avi Dichter, Tzipi Livni and Shimon Peres make up Ehud Olmert's security cabinet. One person, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, straddles both camps: He talks incessantly without really saying anything, but he is also in the know.

As opposed to years gone by, the new security cabinet does not feature joint debates. One minister meets with Prime Minister Olmert when the previous one leaves. Cynics will say "good," because Olmert's office is too small to contain the massive egos of the above mentioned sextet all at once. But the truth is that Olmert does not want to invite rebellion, particularly from amongst those ministers who view themselves as being close to Olmert, but who Olmert doesn't exactly see the same way.

Security cabinet

These five members of the security cabinet don’t have too much in common, but each has something to give Olmert. Mofaz is Mr. Security (even if his official role is only transportation minister). He gives Olmert the military perspective.

Dichter is the Shin Bet guy (who has temporarily been assigned to sort out the police and organized crime world) who gives Olmert the intelligence – Hamas angle. Peres, Mr. New Middle East, gives the prime minister experience. Livni is simply an Olmert favorite, but she, too has something to offer: She protects Israel's, and Olmert's image on the world stage. And Ben Eliezer was once defense minister, in contrast to first-timer Amir Peretz.

Second ring: IDF men and functionaries

To this strange cabinet Olmert has bypassed Peretz to add Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin. It's not that he is ignoring the defense minister. God forbid. Olmert speaks to him at least once a day. But he relies on Diskin and Halutz. They give him advice, as if their offices by the beach have moved to Jerusalem. They are the operations arm, they are the ones who will decide if the prime minister emerges victorious from the current round of violence, or the opposite.

On the outskirts of the minister's and general's circle, but at the very heart of the secret-knowers' club, are six other people: Yoram Turbovitch, a top Olmert aide, government secretary Yisrael Maimon, diplomatic advisor Shalom Turjeman, Chief of Staff Raanan Dinour, media advisor Assaf Shariv and Yechezkel Oved, deputy chief of staff. Add to the list Ilan Mizrahi, national security advisor, even though he has yet to take up his new post.

So those looking for the map Israel is currently following into Gaza will find it with these 15 people. From Olmert to Oved, from Dichter to Livni to Halutz to Diskin. They are the bon-ton of the current government. They are the ones who really will decide whether or not we get bogged down in the Gaza mud, if we manage to rescue Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

And if, hopefully, they manage to do that, they will also decide if we can put a stop to the Qassam fire on Ashkelon and Sderot.

Three notes

• Olmert said last week that "no Palestinian in Gaza has died from a lack of dialysis treatment." Factually that is incorrect, and pragmatically it was unwise to say. When Palestinians hear things like that they would certainly prefer a hero's death and 72 virgins afterwards to a painful death from failed kidneys.
  

• Prime Minister's daily schedule: Since the current crisis began, he wakes up at 6, receives an update from military secretary Gen. Gad Shmani. At 7:30 he's in the office, at 9:30 he meets with Yoram Turbovitch. At least once a day Olmert appears in public, the Knesset or travels secretly to Sderot on the way to a Beer Sheva business convention. Those privy to the prime minister's appointment book say the World Cup games are marked, for him to watch between his security consultations and discussions with world leaders. At 9:30 he goes home to watch the soccer. At the moment, Mahmoud Abbas and his travels to Berlin and Rome don't appear in his book.
  

• Field Security: Yuval Diskin refused last Wednesday to reveal any details to members of the National Security Council. The reason: leaks. Amos Yadlin, the head of military intelligence, supported this decision. Even Dichter and Mofaz backed him up. "The leaks from the cabinet could serve the enemy," said Mofaz. The prime minister summed it all up: "My friends, let's agree that nothing leaves this room." Two hours later the details were in all the papers.