In the battle of the imported American political strategists, the would-be dream team of the would-be prime minister, Mr Ehud Barak, appears to be winning out over the veteran incumbent, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ahead of next Monday's Israeli general elections, Mr Barak's campaign advice trio - three ex-Clinton strategists, Mr James Carville, Mr Stanley Greenberg and Mr Bob Shrum - have managed to loosen up their stiff candidate in front of the cameras, have pounded away at the same potent criticisms of Mr Netanyahu's three-year rule, and have stilled internal bickering in Mr Barak's moderate One Israel alliance.
Mr Netanyahu's right-hand man, Mr Arthur Finkelstein, by contrast, is said to be at loggerheads with the Prime Minister, each blaming the other for strategies that misfire.
Widely seen as a key factor in Mr Netanyahu's victory in 1996, Mr Finkelstein is now reportedly being edged aside by the Prime Minister, who has taken over the running of much of his campaign himself, is enduring public criticism from several of his own Likud colleagues, and is said to be relying on his wife, Sarah, as his last devout loyalist.
Eight points behind Mr Barak in most opinion polls, Mr Netanyahu saw his latest effort to claw back ground foiled yesterday by the Israeli Supreme Court. On Monday night he had closure orders served on three offices in the Orient House, the Palestinians' political headquarters in East Jerusalem, the symbol of Palestinian desire for sovereignty in that part of the city.
Palestinian leaders, and Israeli security officials, had warned that any attempt by Israeli police to enter the building and implement the closure orders might lead to violence.
But yesterday morning a group of Israeli peace activists petitioned the court to block the closure, arguing that Mr Netanyahu was acting solely for electoral purposes. And the court issued an injunction for a week delaying any further action until after May 17th, election day.
Mr Netanyahu focused on the Orient House after attempts by him and Mr Finkelstein to demonise Mr Barak as overly ready to relinquish territory to the Palestinians, and too susceptible to the influence of Labour's most dovish politicians, had failed.
The Netanyahu/Finkelstein campaign has also controversially employed TV ads showing suicide bombings carried out by Hamas extremists during Labour's 19921996 years in power, but to no effect in the polls. And an effort to paint Mr Barak and Labour as elitist backfired, when Mr Netanyahu was recorded spitting venomously that Mr Barak and those on the left were full of hatred for all other Israelis.
Dismayed by the poll showings, and by his disagreements with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Finkelstein is this week said to have headed back to the US for a few days, having reportedly told the Prime Minister that he had other clients to attend to.
The Carville-led trio, meanwhile, have used their TV ads to focus on the rise in unemployment, arguing that if 100,000 Israelis have lost their jobs since he came to power, "shouldn't Mr Netanyahu lose his, too?" They have kept Mr Barak away from a face-to-face debate with the media-savvy Prime Minister. And they have cleverly highlighted Mr Barak's glittering military past for the benefit of newly-arrived Russian immigrants.
"I really do like this guy, and I like my chances", the straight-talking Mr Carville remarked on joining the Barak campaign five months ago. Now his chances are looking better than ever.