Yes, these are interesting times, but they are also crucial times for the future of the Middle East.

Some people are asking if the face or the fate of Israel, or other parts of the region are likely to be affected by the departure of Olmert from the political scene. The knee-jerk reaction is to say, not very much. Life in the Middle East will continue much like before. Or will it?

How will Olmert's departure from politics impact the country and those with whom Israel is engaged in peace negotiations or in war? Well, let's have a look, shall we?

There are currently two countries engaged in peace talks with Israel. Better make that one country and an occupied territory in line to become a country; those are Syria and the Palestinians.

In terms of importance – as far as the clout it carries in the Arab world, the size and strength of its military, and its political influence on its neighbors – logic would dictate that the honor of being the first in line to conclude a peace initiative with Israel would go to Syria. Right? Wrong!

The reason Syria gets low priority on the peace talk scale is due to the fact that the leadership in Damascus has kept very tight control over its side of the border it shares with Israel. In fact, since the two countries, pushed and prodded by then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who undertook 36 visits to the Syrian capital in a single month, signed an armistice in the closing days of the October 1973 war, the Syrian front has remained quiet. Therefore, negotiations with Syria are given low priority.

In contrast to the Syrian front, which has remained inert since 1973, the urgent matter requiring immediate attention is the peace talks with the Palestinians.

Olmert, who has engaged Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in lengthy but mostly fruitless negotiations, perhaps lacked the courage to go a step further and finalize the peace process. Abbas is not much better off; much like his Israeli counterpart he is not very popular at home and feared making concessions to Israel, particularly after losing Gaza to Hamas.

Gaza, much as some of the refugee camps in Lebanon, such as Ain al-Helweh in the south, are starting to become havens for Islamist extremists associated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida. This does not augur well for Israel nor is it good news for Lebanon, or the rest of the Arab world.

With a weak central government in Beirut and the Lebanese authorities prevented from policing the camps as per the infamous Cairo Accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Lebanese government in November 1969, extremist cells have been able to easily establish bases of operations for themselves.

This brings us back to Syria. Remember the peace talks placed on the back burner since 1973? As Imad Mustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washington told Americans for Peace Now in a recent interview, "In one way or another Syria plays the role of a gatekeeper between Israel and the Arab world."

There is much truth in that statement. Elements which remain uncontrollable by the Lebanese military and police are hardly beyond the reach of Syrian intelligence operatives, many of whom remained in Lebanon following the withdrawal of the Syrian military in 2005. An agreement reached between Jerusalem and Damascus would have ramifications far beyond the Syrian-Israeli demarcation line on the Golan Heights.

The new Israeli prime minister might well need to reevaluate the priorities.

There is one wild card however and that is Iran. All indications currently seem to point toward a military showdown, with Israel taking action to regress the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions. That of course would reshuffle the deck of cards. What happens next is anybody's guess.