Kadima rallies around PM, urges Barak to stay

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.

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."