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PM Ehud Olmert: wants a second crack
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| By israelinsider staff May 11, 2007 |
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apparently plans to challenge some of the conclusions attributed to him in the Winograd Committee's interim report on the Second Lebanon War, wants a chance to testify again, and wonders why some of the nice things committee members told him does not appear in the transcript of his testimony.
The report found that Olmert's actions during the war "add up to a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence."
Aides say that Olmert is examining ways to express his concerns to the Winograd panel, either in writing or in a return appearance. The sources also express dismay at what they call the gap between the encouraging words that the panel gave Olmert during his testimony and the harsh conclusions in the report.
Olmert object in particular to treatment of a conversation with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on the second day of the war in which she recommends "to start thinking about a diplomatic way of ending the incident." Livni testified that Olmert told her to "relax" because, he said, the army has "targets for 10 days." The committee did not ask Olmert to give his version of this conversation, or respond to Livni's claim.
Olmert's aides also wonder why the Prime Minister got such low marks in the report when Professor Ruth Gavison, when meeting with Olmert, referred to the deliberations on the first day of the war as "very impressive," and Professor Yehezkel Dror congratulated him for achieving UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war. Many other compliments, Olmert's people claim, never made it into print, reported Haaretz: "It is not clear why they erased this," they said, "and it is not clear how these things fit with the conclusions of the partial [interim] report."
The transcript of the testimony that has been released suggests that the Winograd panel members were not impressed by the decision to go to war, and praised the testimonies of Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Mossad chief Meir Dagan, both of whom warned of complications.
Going behind Olmert's Back
Meanwhile, Army Radio reported Friday morning that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni held a series of meetings with Military Intelligence Research Division head Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz just two days after the outbreak of the War without Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's knowledge.
Sources close to Livni claimed that she had initiated the meetings because Olmert had not included her in national security consultations, the station reported.
Shortly after meeting with Baidatz, the report said, Livni developing a diplomatic plan to end the fighting.
But Olmert's political opponents accused him of blaming the IDF for too many of the war's mistakes. They said that every time the Winograd Report is in the headlines and as long as it tops the national agenda, it hurts the prime minister and increases pressure on him to resign.
"Olmert's testimony proves that he is avoiding responsibility and passing the buck to the IDF on everything," former coalition chairman Avigdor Yitzhaki (Kadima) said. "If he cared about political stability in Israel, he would quit as soon as possible and allow whomever Kadima selects to start stabilizing the country," the Jerusalem Post reported.
MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) said the testimonies highlighted the discrepancy in the accounts by Olmert and Peretz.
"The whole truth has finally emerged from the leaders' contradictory versions of it," she said. "Now they are trying to blame their failures on each other. Up until today, we have only heard leaked information that serves the prime minister's interests. My greatest hope is that the release of the testimonies will mean Olmert and Peretz get sent home faster." |
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