A day before the release of what is expected to be a damning report on the conduct of the Second Lebanon War, Defense Minister Amir Peretz' legal advisor Sunday rejected charges that Peretz had failed in his role during the conflict.

Speaking on Israel Radio, Boaz Ben-Tsur said that some failures had been discovered and they were being addressed. Ben-Tsur said that the July 12 decision to go to war had been taken after consultations with defense officials as well as retired members of the military.

"There was a belief that we could not show restraint over the kidnapping of the soldiers, and that the IDF operation had international approval," Ben-Tsur said.

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He added that there was a substantial difference between the perception of Peretz and the facts that showed a defense minister who acted with consideration, asked the right questions and stressed what needed to be stressed.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that the government would formally respond to the interim report only after its publication Monday.

The Winograd Committee is expected to be highly critical of Olmert, Peretz and former IDF chief Dan Halutz, focusing on the decision to go to war on July 12.

At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting a short time later, Olmert made an attempt to convey an attitude of business as usual, and did not mention the impending report.

Instead, the prime minister focused on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The prime minister will Monday convene ministers from his Kadima party, some half an hour after he receives a copy of the report. The ministers will hold a brief conference with Olmert, after which the prime minister will make his response and the ministers will begin a series of media appearances.

The report will analyze the first days of the fighting, when the war's objectives were formulated, and the six years between Israel's May 2000 pullout from southern Lebanon and the outbreak of the conflict.

According to the people familiar with the investigation, the panel concluded that Olmert failed to sufficiently question the IDF battle plans, publicly stated his war aims without ensuring they were attainable and failed to demand a clear exit strategy. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity pending release of the report.

Leaked media reports have quoted the panel as having concluded that Olmert exercised faulty and hasty judgment, that he "failed in his task," and that he acted as a rubber-stamp for war plans submitted by the IDF, refraining from asking for other options.

Kadima MK: We won't make Olmert resign

A Kadima lawmaker, turning aside media reports that some party figures were working to seek Olmert's resignation over the expected findings of the inquiry, said earlier Sunday that Kadima would back a decision by the prime minister to remain in office.

"The members of Kadima all understand, first of all, that the Kadima party is something that must be safeguarded," MK Yoel Hasson told Army Radio. "Before all else, the [findings] of the report must be implemented, its conclusions must be studied. What is important is to study it, and not turn it into a political issue."

Aides to the prime minister were quoted Saturday as saying that his "motivation to survive is very high, and if the prime minister goes, they should all go." Olmert intends to implement the report's recommendations, they added.