Leading article: A long overdue departure

It is welcome that Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has resigned. For months now his Government has been paralysed by allegations against him. Public support for him has plummeted. His Cabinet has been in open revolt. But his statement that he intends to go in two long months' time is too tardy.

Mr Olmert has been a weak leader ever since the Israeli government inquiry blamed his bad planning for the botched invasion of Lebanon. That came after some significant personal achievements. Mr Olmert steadied the ship of state, and the infant Kadima party, in the uncertain times after his predecessor Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and went into a coma. He then relaunched peace talks with the Palestinians, which had been in the doldrums for eight years, and engaged in indirect talks with Syria, consolidating Mr Sharon's centrist course for peace.

But after the Lebanon inquiry he was a lame duck. Then came allegations that he took envelopes of money from the US businessman Morris Talansky and that he double-claimed for expenses when he was trade minister and mayor of Jerusalem. He has faced four other corruption investigations – on allegations all of which he denies – during his time in office.

Little can be achieved in the two extra months he has given himself in office. The peace talks with the Palestinians and Syrians will stall, despite assurances to the contrary. The ruling party will be plunged into a succession battle at a time of heightened tension over Iran's refusal to abandon its nuclear programme, on which Israel has hinted at air strikes.

Mr Olmert is only going after soundings that he would have come last in his own party leadership contest. He also clearly wants to spare himself the potential indignity of being indicted for corruption while in office. He could have done more. Peace is inevitably negotiated by strong leaders and Israel cannot afford to have a weak one. It is to be hoped that the forthcoming contest will resolve that, though the Israeli electoral system which gives undue weight to small extreme parties will far from guarantee this. Ehud Olmert would have done his country and the region a service had he stepped down much earlier.