Barak Breaks Promise and Stays in Olmert Government

[Shlomo]

They say ANYTHING to get elected and keep power
Barak Breaks Promise and Stays in Olmert Government
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125121
by Hana Levi Julian

Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak has decided to stay in the Olmert government, reneging on a campaign promise he made during Labor's primary elections last year and outraging fellow Labor Knesset Members.

Barak, who heads the second-largest party in the coalition, made the announcement Sunday morning, thereby securing the continued existence of the Olmert government in the wake of the Winograd report. The interim and final reports of the Winograd Commission, released in April 2007 and January 2008, harshly criticized the prime minister, holding him personally responsible for the many errors in judgment and flawed decisions made by the government during the Second Lebanon War.

Speaking at a news conference June 6, 2007, one week prior to the party's runoff primary that led to his election as Labor chairman,  Barak told reporters, "The Winograd Report is a tough report, requiring personal conclusions. Olmert must come to his own personal conclusions and resign, as did Dan Halutz and Amir Peretz, in their way." Barak added that "if Olmert does not quit before the release of the final report, we [Labor] will be forced to end our cooperation with Olmert, and work to create a new coalition within the current government, or alternatively, we'll work toward setting a date for elections."

Barak appeared at the news conference together with fellow Labor Knesset member Ophir Pines-Paz, who announced he would back Barak's candidacy but had also made it clear his support was conditional on Barak's position vis a vis the Winograd Report.

Labor Party members slammed Barak's decision to renege on his promise to end the party's participation in the Olmert government, warning the party could lose grassroots popularity by supporting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the wake of the Winograd Report.

Had Barak kept his vow to pull his 19-seat party out the coalition if Olmert did not resign or call new elections after the release of the report, the government would have collapsed. Olmert would have then been forced either to build a new coalition or call new elections.

(more of this article can be found on the posted link)