Bereaved parents urge Barak to resign
Parents of soldiers killed in Second Lebanon War call on defense minister to make good on his promise and bring about government's collapse following release of final Winograd report
The Bereaved Families Forum, a group of parents who lost their children during the Second Lebanon War, has launched a campaign calling on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to resign from the government and bring about its collapse.
The decision to launch the campaign followed reports saying that the Winograd Committee, which probed the failures of last summer's war, would not include any personal recommendations in its final report.
The parents said they would exert pubic pressure on Barak so that he would make good on his promise to quit the government with the release of the commission's final report.
'If Winograd won’t do it, we will'
The group's members, who gathered at a monument in memory of Sgt. Ohad Klausner in Beit Horon Tuesday evening, urged the Winograd Committee to publish personal recommendations against officials involved in last summer's war.
"There cannot be a situation whereby the committee's interim report mentions repeated failures (in the handling of the war) but does not mention those responsible for these failures," said Yossi Shachar, who lost his son Or in the war.
"We must prevent a situation in Israel in which people are not held accountable for their actions," he said. "This is a dangerous precedent that may, God forbid, beget more pain and bereavement."
Yisrael Klausner, Ohad's father, said Barak must clearly state whether he intends to resign or not.
"Does he plan on giving us hope for better governing? Have our sons fallen for a country with truthful leaders? Or will he continue allowing this failed leadership to survive?" he said.
David Einhorn, who lost his son Yonatan, demanded that Barak meet with the group's representatives.
"We, who gave up all that is dear to us, should get an indication of whether Barak intends to continue allowing cynical and irresponsible leaders to mock us," he said.
Bereaved father Moshe Muskal said the families were planning to release a report including detailed political and military information that would offer "unequivocal conclusions regarding those responsible for the war's failures".
"If Winograd won’t do it, then we will," he said.
