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After Winograd

Olmert, worn out Photo: Gil Yohanan

PM aides: Olmert will quit if told to

If Winograd Commission tells Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign, he will cooperate with the request but it probably won't be until summer, a source close to prime minister says

Ronny Sofer
Published: 05.02.07, 01:22 / Israel News

If the Winograd Commission tells Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign, he will cooperate with the request, a source close to the prime minister told Ynet Wednesday.

If the commission decides to "chop heads", they will most likely wait until the summer when the final part of the Winograd report on the failures of the Second Lebanon War is due for publication, the source added.

Winograd report - full coverage

Roughly a day after the publication of the commission's partial report, which found severe shortcomings in the top political and military echelons' management during last summer's war, Olmert's office was beginning to recuperate from the initial shock.

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The report spurred angry calls from across the political spectrum that Olmert resign immediately.

In light of the report's harsh conclusions, the office had oubled their energies and were hard at work, Olmert's aides told Ynet.

"We're not turning the lights out yet and we're not going home. There is an atmosphere of work and accomplishment," a senior aide to the prime minister said.

In actuality, however, in spite of the pep talks the managers of the bureau are giving their staff, on Tuesday the employees were still wandering around looking shocked.

"There is no doubt this is a heavy blow," one employee said. "I don't know what exactly is going on around the prime minister, but we all can't stop talking about how hard this is. After all, I'm a citizen of this country too and I heard the Winograd report. This isn't a simple situation. This certainly could the end of the cabinet's term - just a year after Olmert took his post."

Nighttime reading

The prime minister looked weary Tuesday after spending the night reading through the 320 page Winograd report, including the confidential sections. Tuesday afternoon he was caught on camera catching a few winks during a ceremony honoring the new police commissioner.

Olmert retired to the Prime Minister's Residence Tuesday afternoon to rest after a day of marathon of meetings with coalition leaders – Labor chairman Amir Peretz, Shas chairman Eli Yishai, Israel Our Home chairman Avigdor Lieberman, and Pensioner's Party chairman Rafi Eitan.

Olmert won the coalition's support for his decision not to step down, but rather to devote full efforts to implementing the lessons learned from the Winograd inquiry.

Former IDF chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak will be appointed to head the team responsible for implementation of the report's lessons. The team will be asked to present their conclusions within 30 days to guide the branches of the Prime Minister's Office and government on how to apply the necessary changes.

During their next meeting, the cabinet is expected to decide on the appointment of a special ministerial committee, headed by Olmert himself, to monitor the implementation of the first part of the Winograd report.

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