The political demise of Ehud Barak, once Israel's most-decorated soldier and now its most heavily defeated prime minister, seemed certain yesterday.
Overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate a fortnight ago, derided by his own party in the past few days as he tried to secure the position of defence minister in Israel's next government, he found himself an utter political irrelevance last night as his Labour colleagues discussed terms for entering a "unity" government without him.
Formally, Mr Barak remains Israel's Prime Minister. In reality he has become a laughing stock, a man who says one thing, reconsiders, does another, then reverses himself again.
His decline began when his coalition partners abandoned him last summer, as he tried to hammer out a peace accord with the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat. But its acceleration has been as devastating as it has been rapid.
On the night of February 6th, when the polling booths closed and the scale of what turned out to be a 25 per cent defeat to the Likud leader, Mr Ariel Sharon, in prime ministerial elections became apparent, Mr Barak congratulated his successor and said he would step away from politics as soon as Mr Sharon formed his government.
But days later he changed his mind and accepted the position of defence minister in the coalition Mr Sharon is still working to build.
His Labour colleagues, gearing up for the battle to succeed him, reacted with fury. Mr Avraham Burg, the Knesset's Speaker and front-runner in the succession, gently urged him to honour his resignation commitment.
Mr Haim Ramon, another of the would-be leaders, was blunter, calling him a "low-level political hack". Under pressure, on Tuesday night he changed his mind again. He sent out two letters, one to Mr Sharon, another to the "inveterate intriguers" in his own party. He blamed Mr Sharon, somewhat absurdly, for having made clear that the "unity" alliance would not stand or fall on Mr Barak's presence in government.
He blamed his Labour rivals for putting personal interests above national interests. And his bottom line: he would, after all, stand by that initial pledge to quit as party leader, to leave the Knesset, and to seek no role in the Sharon government.
Ironically, while Mr Sharon may feel he has wasted two weeks trying to negotiate an alliance with a man who has now abandoned politics, Mr Barak's departure - and it does appear to be truly irreversible this time - may accelerate the process of coalition-building.
Labour leaders were meeting last night to discuss which ministries they would seek in a Sharon government, and to re-examine tentative understandings on the government's platform.
Next Monday, the party is scheduled to take a final decision on whether to serve as junior partner to Mr Sharon's Likud. Shimon Peres might now seek the Defence Ministry post, or Labour may opt to let Mr Sharon appoint a defence minister from his own party, and instead take control of Foreign Affairs and the Treasury.