Kadima rallies around PM, urges Barak to stay - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Sat., February 02, 2008 Shvat 26, 5768

Israel Time: 01:29 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Rosner's Domain

Diplomacy

Defense

Jewish World

Opinion

National

Print Edition

Advertising

Books

Arts & Leisure

Business

Real Estate

Easy Start

Travel

Week's End

Anglo File

Kadima rallies around PM, urges Barak to stay

By Mazal Mualem

Kadima ministers closed ranks around Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a meeting in Tel Aviv yesterday, just 24 hours after the Winograd Report criticized the government and military's handling of the Second Lebanon War.

Olmert had managed to quash moves to unseat him even before the report was issued, so the Kadima ministers' meeting was a show of strength. Even his most bitter rivals, such as Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, were emphasizing a need for stability.

	Advertisement

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who had called on Olmert to resign after the interim report's release last spring, did not mention the prime minister's personal responsibility. But she spoke of the government's collective responsibility for the "failed war."

Olmert, for his part, has promised to continue implementing the reports' recommendations and to support the army and troops.

Former Kadima and coalition whip MK Avigdor Yitzhaki, who had led the move to oust Olmert, said he would resign from the Knesset. Shlomo Mula, who will replace Yitzhaki as MK, will serve as a loyal aide to Olmert.

Livni, who was seen as the political leader who could topple Olmert, said the report was extremely grave.

"It's hard for the Israeli public to hear the words 'failed war' that appear in the report," she said. The government must focus on advancing the peace process and handling defense issues, she said.

Vice Premier Haim Ramon accused Olmert's detractors, first and foremost opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, of waging a blood libel campaign against the prime minister in recent days.

Olmert vowed to implement the report's recommendations, while at the same time saying the investigation vindicated him.

Former defense minister Amir Peretz (Labor) yesterday also called a news conference in Tel Aviv. He said the report vindicated him and accused Mofaz, who preceded him as defense minister, of not warning about the deteriorating situation.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, said that "Israel is being led by an unfit and incompetent prime minister."

Netanyahu's Likud party convened in Tel Aviv to discuss the implications of the report. Netanyahu spoke at a press conference after the meeting. "The government is in charge of the military, and it failed miserably, that is the report's main conclusion, as Winograd said," Netanyahu said.

"The [Winograd] committee concluded that 'we assign personal blame to the three captains.' While two of the captains [former defense minister Peretz and former chief of staff Dan Halutz] have stepped down, the political leadership and its leader [Olmert] refuse to take responsibility and exhibit personal integrity and leadership, which is what a decisive majority of the public expects them to do."

According to Netanyahu, the people demand a new and worthy leader, and this will only come about via early elections. He refused to answer reporters' questions at the end of the press conference. Labor MK Ophir Pines-Paz called the report "very harsh," adding that the war was a "colossal failure."

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	'British Oskar Schindler'
	Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 Jewish children during the Holocaust, is up for the Nobel.


	Pride of Israel
	Tennis: Shahar Peer beats Russia's Dinara Safina to give Israel 1-0 lead in the Fed Cup.

Today Online


	Report: Mauritania arrests three in Israel embassy shooting
	Responses: 340


	Colette Avital: Evangelical donations to Israel are disturbing
	Responses: 179


	U.K. Jewish group slams Gaza blocakde, sparks controversy
	Responses: 251


	Gadi BenMark: Israel needs an Arabic version of 'Hatikva'
	Responses: 125


	Amnesty Int'l: Israel's war crimes ignored by Winograd report
	Responses: 189

More Headlines
00:58 J'lem said to favor Hamas bid to cut Israel-Gaza ties


23:10 Egypt arrests 17 Palestinian militants in Sinai over weekend


22:50 Ex-IDF General Udi Shani: IDF failed in Second Lebanon War


19:20 Four Qassam rockets fired from Gaza strike the western Negev


18:05 MK Zahalka: PFLP's George Habash should be buried in Lod


16:00 'British Oskar Schindler' in running for Nobel Peace Prize


20:58 French Pres. Sarkozy and model Carla Bruni marry at Elysee Palace


21:01 Hadash petition calls for 'neutral' panel to probe Oct. 2000 riots


22:32 Police arrest T.A. man suspected of stabbing to death brother, 44


04:17 Canadian probe blames IDF for UN observer deaths in Lebanon


16:18 Report: Mauritania arrests three in Israeli Embassy shooting


14:05 Tennis: Peer beats Russia's Safina to give Israel 1-0 lead in Fed Cup