Sharon Still in Coma in Tel Aviv

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is seen attending a ceremony at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, in this Jan. 4, 2006, file photo. (AP Photo/Eliana Aponte, Pool, File) (Eliana Aponte - AP)

While Israelis debate Sharon's legacy, there is little disagreement that he would have handled the summer war in Lebanon more prudently. In fact, the war might not have even taken place, said David Kimche, a former Foreign Ministry director and deputy chief of the Mossad spy agency.

Olmert launched the war just hours after Hezbollah guerrillas killed three soldiers and captured two others in a cross-border raid.

Sharon "would not have jumped into the war in Lebanon after a short debate," Kimche said. "He would have waited, he would have asked many questions ... Therefore the war would have been different, if there had been a war at all."

Shlomo Brom, a former military strategy chief, said Sharon also wouldn't have made Olmert's mistake of setting sweeping objectives, like crushing Hezbollah and recovery of the captured soldiers. Israel's 34-day offensive failed to achieve either goal. More than 1,000 people died in the fighting, according to U.N., Israeli and Lebanese officials, including 159 Israelis.

"I imagine Sharon could not have avoided responding with a tough military strike," Brom said. "But I think he would have managed it better and not let it go on as long as it did and get as complicated as it did. He would have set more realistic objectives and wound it up more quickly."

Continuing violence in Gaza also has complicated Olmert's troubles, and sparked a heated debate about whether the Gaza withdrawal was worthwhile. Nonstop rocket fire from Gaza, the capture of an Israeli soldier by Gaza militants, and an ensuing Israeli military campaign laid bare the shortcomings of Sharon's unilateral approach.

Brom said relations with the Palestinians would not have evolved significantly differently under Sharon.

"The underlying problems wouldn't have been different," Brom said. "I think the deterioration in Gaza was expected after the withdrawal, in the absence of a political process."