Winograd C'tee must explain reluctance to publish minutes

The High Court of Justice released a conditional order to the Winograd Committee on Monday, requiring the committee to explain within eight days why it will not publish the testimonies of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Halutz before the release of its interim report.

In addition, the court ordered the committee to explain why it will not publish a predetermined schedule for the release of the minutes of all the discussions and testimonies it heard.

The court order was issued following a petition by Meretz MK Zahava Gal-On, filed after the committee informed the High Court of Justice on Sunday that it will not release any more transcripts of witness testimonies on the Second Lebanon War and said it will resume deliberations on the matter only after issuing its interim report, due later this month. This was in violation of the committee's agreement with the High Court, requiring it to publish the testimonies before the Passover holiday.

MK Gal-On said in response to the order that "the court's decision is a postponement of the false pretext conjured up by the prime minister and of the Winograd Committee."

She maintained that "the decision to publish three of the main protocols even before the interim report reflects our opinion that it is the public's right to know the misdeeds of the war's leaders."

Explaining its decision, the committee wrote that it "continues to examine the transcripts [containing many hundreds of pages], but has found that a significant portion of them cannot be published and that the publication of those segments of the transcripts that can be published may place things out of context and prove misleading."