TWO MEN named Ehud hit the headlines yesterday, and on their late could hang the political future both of the city of Jerusalem and the state of Israel.
The first is Mr Ehud Barak, a Labour Party Knesset members who announced the start of a campaign for the leadership of his party and, hopefully, the eventual leadership of his country.
Mr Barak is the closest thing Labour has to a Yitzhak Rabin II. A career soldier who, like Mr Rabin, became the army chief of staff before beginning a second life as a politician, Mr Barak also has something of Mr Rabin's air of no nonsense toughness and candour.
His declaration yesterday that he would compete for the Labour leadership, in next summer's internal party elections, almost certainly spells the end of political life for the party leader, Mr Shimon Peres.
Mr Peres (73), who failed in five attempts to win the Israeli premiership outright, has yet to formally rule himself out of the running for another party leadership stint and prime ministerial bid. But he must surely know that he has little chance of defeating Mr Barak, and no chance at all - as May's elections proved - of beating the Likud Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu.
More vigorous opposition to Mr Barak is likely to come from younger candidates such as the former interior minister, Mr Haim Ramon. But Mr Barak, given his impeccable security credentials and support for the peace process with Mr Yasser Arafat, looks Labour's best bet to oust Mr Netanyahu, and thus must count as the favourite in next year's Labour leadership contest.
If Mr Barak's followers must wait a while to see how he fares in his fight, observers of the other Ehud the Likud Mayor of Jerusalem, Mr Ehud Olmert, are watching their man battle for his political life right now.
On Sunday night, the Israeli attorney general announced he intended to indict Mr Olmert on charges including aggravated fraud, over alleged financial misdeeds committed in 1988, when the mayor was serving as treasurer of the Likud party. Worryingly for Mr Olmert, two other people have already been convicted in the case.
Before he can be made to stand trial, the mayor, who is also a member of Knesset, will have to give up his parliamentary immunity, or have it voted away from him - something he is vowing to fight. He is also said to be determined not to step down as mayor.
But the case seems fairly straightforward, and Mr Olmert: may not be able to put off legal proceedings for too long.
. In Washingion, Mr Netanyahu urged Syria yesterday to resume peace negotiations without conditions and US officials said they were trying to find a formula to bring the two sides together. After an hour long working visit with President Clinton, Mr Netanyahu told reporters that there was "a wide area for negotiations between us and Syria". During his talks he also pledged Israel would pursue Peace negotiations with the Palestinians.