As the release of the final Winograd Report on the Second Lebanon War draws near, politicians are moving into position for possible changes in the nation’s leadership.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, a colleague of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, announced Monday on IDF Army Radio that he hopes to take his associate’s place if Olmert resigns following publication of the report.
The Winograd Commission, appointed by the prime minister to investigate the government’s performance during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, will publish its findings on January 30.
Even though the commission has said it will not name names to assign specific responsibility for poor judgment and other failures, it is nonetheless believed that Prime Minister Olmert will face the lion’s share of the blame for errors made at the top.
Sheetrit claimed the Kadima party would not automatically replace Olmert with Foreign Ministry Tzipi Livni, but rather that it would have to hold internal elections in order to choose Olmert’s successor. The politically-ambitious Interior Minister qualified his statements, however, saying they were not immediately relevant since this report has yet to be published.
Olmert has repeatedly said he will not resign, regardless of what is set forth in the Winograd Report. The interim report had harsh criticism for the Prime Minister, holding him personally responsible for the decisions of 'his' government and the operations of the army.
The interim report noted:
The Prime Minister made up his mind hastily, despite the fact that no detailed military plan was submitted to him and without asking for one. Also, his decision was made without close study of the complex features of the Lebanon front and of the military, political and diplomatic options available to Israel. He made his decision without systematic consultation with others, especially outside the IDF, despite not having experience in external-political and military affairs. In addition, he did not adequately consider political and professional reservations presented to him before the fateful decisions of July 12th.
Several bereaved parents and soldiers who served in the Second Lebanon War have called for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to quit the government in response to the commission’s findings. In a Labor faction meeting on Monday, Barak said he would determine his course of action “according to what is right and best for the State of Israel.” He spoke with bereaved parents who had attended the meeting and promised to meet again with them in the next several days. If the Labor party pulls out of the government, the Olmert coalition will fall.
Barak was responsible for the IDF pullout from southern Lebanon in 2000, after which the Hizbullah terrorist organization recouped its losses, rearmed and built deep underground bunkers in preparation for the next war. Last summer, the terror group ignited that war by kidnapping IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in coordination with a Katyusha rocket attack on northern Israel. The whereabouts and condition of the two soldiers are still unknown.