I bear the ultimate responsibility, Olmert tells Knesset
In first public statement since release of Winograd report, prime minister says he has never attempted to shirk his responsibility for war's failings, adds he will work to 'correct failings, draw conclusions and jumpstart the required reforms.' Knesset endorses PM's response
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert referred Monday for the first time to the Winograd Report on the Second Lebanon War, which was released last week. In a speech at the Knesset plenum during a session dedicated to the report, Olmert stressed that he bore the ultimate responsibility for the war's failings.
At the end of the discussion, the Knesset plenum voted to endorse Olmert's response to the report with a majority of 59 MKs voting in favor and 53 against.
Olmert added that he planned to "correct the failings, draw the conclusions and jumpstart the required reforms," in wake of the Winograd Commission's findings.
According to Olmert, the Winograd Report required of the Israeli people, and first and foremost its leaders, to conduct a thorough self-examination that would address "not only the failures of the latest fighting in Lebanon, but also the erosion of core values of social commitment over the years."
Bereaved parents outraged
In response to Olmert's words, a bereaved father who attended the session called on him to resign. "You are not my prime minister, I relinquish my citizenship," he shouted, and was consequently removed from the plenum after refusing to quiet down.
Several other bereaved parents, who were outraged by this move, followed him outside.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who took the podium after Olmert, opened his speech by stating that "the Second Lebanon War was a failure and the ultimate responsibility for this failure lies with the prime minister."
Netanyahu said that Olmert must resign. "You do not take responsibility because you are unwilling to pay any price…. Instead you deliver a speech fitting for a lawyer, not a leader."
During the session earlier, Olmert faced attacks by several opposition members who also urged his to step down.
"You won the war for your own survival, but the State of Israel lost. A state is not a reality show, and therefore you must quit," Meretz MK Zahava Gal-On told the prime minister.
"You should have resigned after the release of the partial report," Gal-On added, and defined the war as "the Lebanon casino", saying, "You gambled with soldiers' lives in order to secure a public opinion victory."
