Last update - 00:00 03/05/2007
Cabinet committee to implement Winograd recommendations
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
The cabinet Wednesday unanimously approved the formation of a steering committee to implement the recommendations of the Winograd Committee's interim report into the Second Lebanon War.
The committee, to be headed by former minister and chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, is to give its conclusions in 30 days.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also decided to form an additional ministerial panel, headed by himself and including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Vice Premier Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and ministers Shaul Mofaz, Eli Yishai and Avigdor Lieberman. The panel is expected to review Lipkin-Shahak's steering committee and its action plan.
The steering committee will propose, in coordination with the Winograd report, ways to bolster the National Security Council, increase the Foreign Ministry's role in defense decisions, and broaden cabinet ministers' expertise.
The steering committee will include people outside the political and security spheres as well as officials from the defense establishment, the Foreign Ministry, the intelligence community and the National Security Council.
The cabinet decided on the matter during a three-hour meeting about the Winograd report. Several of the ministers there argued that should the government collapse, the recommendations of the report might be brushed off.
Following the meeting, the cabinet announced that the implementation of the Winograd Report would be given top priority "in order to improve Israel's ability to deal with critical security and political challenges."
Livni, who voted in favor of the committee, nonetheless remained critical of its formation.
"In light of our goals, we must address the omissions immediately. The was no need to wait for the Winograd report, nor is there any need to wait for the Lipkin-Shahak committee," she said.
The cabinet also agreed to address the need to update Israel's national security doctrine in accordance with a report prepared by former minister Dan Meridor.