Committee refuses to respond to Olmert associates' criticism

The Winograd Committee refused to comment on complaints made by associates of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who last week accused the panel of scissoring out parts of Olmert's testimony that presented him in a positive light.

Sources close to the members of the committee called the accusations "spin" on the part of the prime minister's associates, adding that the minutes to which they referred were censored for security reasons.

The committee also said that is has not yet received any request from the Prime Minister's Bureau for the PM to testify again before the panel, as sources in the bureau said they intended to make in the following days. The committee said it would consider such a request.

Channel 10 reported Friday night that the Winograd Committee says the prime minister is trying to treat the panel in much the same way as he has treated State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss. According to the news report, members of the committee said they had no intention of becoming embroiled in a confrontation with the prime minister, as Lindenstrauss has done.

Olmert, for his part, reiterated that he would not resign following the findings of the committee on his "failed performance" during the Second Lebanon War. "Resigning would not be acceptance of responsibility, but rather a show of irresponsibility," Olmert said in a Friday interview with Radio Jerusalem.