Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak said Monday he could not promise the Labor Party would force early elections in 2008. Speaking to a bereaved IDF family, Barak refused to sign a written commitment to work for early elections in light of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's failure to take responsibility for the failures of the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.
Previously, Barak pledged to lead the Labor Party out of the Olmert-led government upon publication of the Winograd Report, expected on January 30. The report is expected to criticize the prime minister, former Defense Minister Amir Peretz and former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz for shortcomings during the month-long war.