Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a Labor Party leadership candidate, is expected to respond to the Winograd Commission report for the first time Tuesday evening and to reveal his stance on sitting in Ehud Olmert's government.
Barak will hold a press conference at 5:30 pm at Kibbutz Sdot-Yam, where he is expected to address the Winograd Commission's conclusions, which also found his government which led the withdrawal from Lebanon
indirectly responsible for the failures.
| To Sit or Not to Sit |
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| Barak keeps quiet on whether he'll sit in Olmert government / Attila Somfalvi |
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Labor ministers seem to hear what they want to hear from former prime minister; Barak waits to see which way wind blows |
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The press conference will focus on Barak's stance toward the Olmert
government. While several of his cronies could swear that they heard him say he would not sit with Olmert in the same government, other associates said they had the impression that he had not yet decided.
Three of Barak's opponents in the Labor race – Ami Ayalon, Ophir Pines-Paz and Danny Yatom – have already called on the party to leave the government as long as it is headed by Olmert.
Barak was recently pressured by elements in his party, led by former Minister Eitan Cabel, to announce that he would not sit in Olmert's government if he is elected Labor chairman. Others pressured him not to commit unequivocally to leaving the government.
Barak has held numerous consultations and talks with his associates and supporters, and according to estimates, the change that he would officially boycott Olmert are "50-50."
He is expected to say that in the long term it will be impossible to sit in a government headed by Olmert and that a "solution" will be required. The decision will be made on May 29, after the Labor primary elections.
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