Last update - 00:00 16/04/2007
Members of Winograd war probe may quit over release of minutes
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
Three members of the Winograd Committee, which is probing the conduct of the Second Lebanon War, are considering resignation if the High Court of Justice orders the immediate publication of the minutes of its discussions, Channel Two television reported Monday evening.
The High Court said earlier that it would not rule Monday on when the committee must release the testimonies, despite the expectation that it would do so.
Following heavy pressure from High Court judges, headed by Justice Dorit Beinish, the committee agreed Sunday to begin releasing the minutes two weeks after the publication of its interim report into the war, expected after Independence Day on April 24.
Sources close to the panel members stressed that the threat was not a maneuver aimed at influencing the High Court decision, but was actually out of real frustration.
According to the sources, the panel members felt "genuinely troubled by the possibility of damaging effects on the work of the committee, and to their personal integrity."
The Winograd panel members spearheading the protest to the High Court are its chairman Eliyahu Winograd and Professor Ruth Gavison and General (res.) Menachem Einan.
The three led the Winograd Committee to the unprecedented clash with the High Court, and expressed willingness to pay a heavy public price to safeguard the principle of not releasing the minutes before the release of the interim report.
"We are dealing with prominent figures, and it is baseless to believe they will resign," a source close to the committee stated Monday.
"I don't believe they are hurt or offended personally, but that they want to avoid a loss of personal credibility," another close source commented.
The spokesman for the committee refused to respond to the claims.
Meretz faction leader Zehava Gal-On petitioned the court Monday morning to order the release of the minutes.
Gal-On told the court that she is completely opposed to the schedule presented by the Winograd Committee for the release of key testimonies.
The committee told the court Sunday that it believes that the partial testimonies of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Halutz should be published in roughly one month, approximately two weeks after the panel releases its interim report.
Dafna Holtz-Lechner, who presented the court with Gal-On's response, said that, "If the public receives a summary report that includes only conclusions without having any information by which to assess the conclusion, the report will lose its moral validity because the public will not be able to examine and judge it."
Gal-On added that it "is inconceivable that the committee can thumb its nose at the court and the public's right to know."