The merry-go-round of Israeli politics spins like a rusty centrifuge in a secret Iranian enrichment plant.
Because of this intensity, we often forget that sometimes politics can be about long-term principles, too: loyalty, vision, the party. Heck, it can even be about ideology.
MK Tzipi Livni, who announced on Monday that she would not compete in April 9 election, is the polar opposite of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she hates.
Livni has always been a flip-flopper who kept moving to the left. Unlike Netanyahu, she has always struggled to speak clearly and often misspoke. And on Monday, when she announced her departure from politics, she once again launched an all-out offensive singularly focused on Netanyahu as the enemy of democracy.
Livni's stars suddenly aligned in 2008 when she got the presidential nod to form a government after then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced his resignation. But she failed to form a government and called an early election.
Following the 2009 election, when her Kadima party won the most seats, she had another shot at forming a government but was bested by Netanyahu, who got the presidential mandate.
What ultimately undid her was her refusal to strike a compromise in negotiations. As justice minister, in talks with the Palestinians, and in coalitions talks with the haredi parties after Olmert announced his resignation, she could not close the deal and simply stuck to her initial position.
Even after Netanyahu offered in 2009 that they both serve as prime minister on a rotating basis, her answer was simply no, saying she won and thus deserved to be prime minister.
Netanyahu offers another lesson for pundits. Two years after he was dealt a crushing defeat in the 1999 election, analysts said that he would win handily if he decided to re-enter politics and compete in the 2001 election.
Back then, Israelis voted with two ballots – one for prime minister and one for their preferred party – and only serving MKs could run for prime minister. So the law was changed to allow Netanyahu to run but he ultimately chose not to compete.
Netanyahu said he decided not run because the Knesset did not dissolve, meaning that Israelis would only vote for prime minister and not for a party. This, he said, would make it impossible to govern.
The pundits were in consensus that this was the biggest mistake of his life, and they said he would never get another chance to regain power so easily.
And it turned out that he proved all the pundits wrong: His decision to stay true to his convictions proved a worthwhile wait and he got what he wanted in 2009.
Livni was the champion of the nation-state law when it was still in its infancy. Then she became its No. 1 detractor, making ludicrous allegations that it was racist and discriminatory.
Livni made the 180-degree shift from supporting the settlement enterprise to being a Meretz-like lefty.
American policymakers were convinced that she was a future Israeli prime minister and she told the White House to pressure Netanyahu because he is "pressurable."
And in the last election, she tried to be funny by trash talking Netanyahu. "I will throw the garbage out if I win," she vowed. This was a cheap shot at Netanyahu that had zero effect on voters.
Now she finds herself tossed into the political waste bin without having any real accomplishments. Having said all that, throughout her career in politics she has served the State of Israel.
Her departure shows a willingness to take responsibility: She is dropping out of the race because she knows that staying in could cost the Left two Knesset seats.
