Britannica –
“The popular traditions about Elisha (2 Kings 2–13) sketch a charismatic, quasi–ecstatic figure, very similar to Elijah. Like his mentor, Elisha was a passionate exponent of the ancient religious and cultural traditions of Israel, which both felt to be threatened by the ruling dynasty of Omri, which was in alliance with Phoenicia. (King Ahab’s wife, the Tyrian princess Jezebel, was then trying to introduce the worship of Baal into Israel.) As a prophet, Elisha was a political activist and revolutionary. He led a “holy war” that extinguished the house of Omri in Jerusalem as well as in Samaria (2 Kings 9–10).”
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/184750/Elisha (accessed June 30, 2009)