The High Court of Justice on Thursday told the government that it had six days to explain why a national panel of inquiry independent of the government had not been established to investigate the handling of the recent war in Lebanon.

The court's ruling came two days after a fiery debate in which the justices blasted the decision to employ a government-appointed committee to investigate the war instead of an independent panel which could "investigate all aspects of the war in the north, including the government, the defense establishment, the military and the relevant civilians."

The current committee, which is meant to investigate the activities of the political and military echelon during the war, comprises members appointed by the government.

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The state is required to address in its explanation to the court "the scope of authority given to a government inquiry panel to investigate matters of general national significance, understood to be functioning as an arm of the government and of the defense forces."

The state was also to explain "the appointment process of a government-appointed investigative panel, in a situation where the appointees and representatives included are themselves on the boundary of the matters up for inquiry."

The court ordered a temporary injunction on the matter against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz upon the request of the Movement for Quality Government and the non-profit organization Ometz.

The two groups also called on the current panel of inquiry, the Winograd Committee, to suspend activity pending a final court decision on the petition. The Winograd Committee said in response that it had no intention of suspending activities, unless ordered by the High Court to do otherwise.

The matter will be up for debate again in two weeks, before a final ruling is given.

Livni testifies to Winograd Panel
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday appeared before the committee to respond to questions regarding her office's conduct during the war and regarding the political phases that led to an eventual United Nations-brokered cease-fire.

Livni's testimony was the final set of questioning in the first round of the panel's investigation. The committee will now spend a few weeks evaluating the material it has accumulated in order to decide where to focus its inquiry.

Eight researchers, mostly senior officers in the reserves, have been appointed to assist the committee members to gather and evaluate the material.

Mazuz dismisses Winograd panel member
Striking an additional blow to the government's panel of inquiry, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Thursday dismissed a senior member of the Winograd Committee with close connections to the Kadima party.

Mazuz said, "Ben-Haim himself related that he served during the last general elections as a central figure in the Kadima party's staff of volunteers, which consitutes a central and leading component of the government whose actions and conduct the committee is supposed to be examining."

Mazuz said that the decision to dismiss Ben-Haim was made in order to keep the committee's legitimacy from appearing questionable. He said Ben-Haim had been appointed strictly out of professional considerations, and not because of his political connections.