Bibi's Headaches Multiply

You know you're in trouble when the person who gave you your initial political break 17 years ago suddenly decides to run against you. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu learned that harsh fact on Monday when former defense minister Moshe Arens, the man who appointed Netanyahu to the No. 2 spot at the Israeli embassy in Washington in 1982, announced he would challenge Netanyahu for the Likud party leadership. "There appears to be a growing consensus within the party," says TIME world editor Joshua Cooper Ramo, "that members may not want to bet all their cards on Bibi."

Ramo points out that the Likud, one of Israel's two dominant parties, is struggling over whether it needs to reinvent itself. The battle is a reflection of the broader political arena, as Israel ponders before its next election the kind of peace it will seek to make with Palestinians. Some within the party say that Israel needs new faces, new leadership and new approaches. "This is reflected in the fact that not only are there others besides Arens challenging Netanyahu within Likud, "says Ramo, "but there are also an unusually high number of non-Likud and non-Labor candidates who have entered this spring's contest for prime minister." Though Likud and the electorate may decide to stick with the known quantity that is Netanyahu, at least one veteran war horse -- Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon -- has already decided to pass up a run because of the fresh breezes blowing across the country.