As expected, the new Kadima –

Party emerged victorious in national elections held this week in Israel. The win was a victory for interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took the helm of government -- and the newly formed party -- after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was felled by a stroke. The celebrations will be short-lived as Mr. Olmert begins the arduous task of cobbling together a new government. That effort -- and the goal of pushing ahead with a final settlement with the Palestinians -- will be hampered by a smaller margin of victory than anticipated and low voter turnout. Mr. Olmert will be hard pressed to claim a mandate for controversial decisions.

Mr. Sharon formed Kadima last year, after he infuriated his country's rightwing by withdrawing Israeli forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip. The abandonment of the settlements there was to make Israeli territory more defensible and to prepare the ground for similar action in the West Bank. That prospect was intended to push Palestinians back to the negotiating table -- if they refused, Mr. Sharon would settle the final border question unilaterally. His bold break with the settlers -- who Mr. Sharon had championed for so long -- realigned Israeli politics. It split the Likud Party that he had founded and attracted the support of others, like former Labor Party head Shimon Peres, who felt Mr. Sharon had the credibility and the strength to push for a final settlement.

Unfortunately, weeks later, Mr. Sharon suffered a massive stroke and has remained in a coma ever since. Mr. Olmert, deputy prime minister and a former mayor of Jerusalem, took his place as prime minister and head of the party, leading the campaign for the election. Mr. Olmert differs from Mr. Sharon in two critical ways. First, he is not the "bulldozer" that Mr. Sharon was, nor does he have the military record that insulated his predecessor from criticism from the right about failing to protect Israel's national security.

Second, he was much more specific than Mr. Sharon about his plans. Mr. Olmert has called on Palestinians to join him in negotiations to settle the borders of the two states as called for in the "road map" agreed by the "quartet" -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations. But he also warned that he will act unilaterally if decisions are not made by 2010. He has said that Israel is prepared to withdraw from much of the West Bank and make "painful" decisions to close settlements. Speaking to Palestinians, he explained that "We are prepared to compromise, give up parts of our beloved land of Israel, remove, painfully, Jews who live there, to allow you the conditions to achieve your hopes and to live in a state in peace and quiet."