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| Barak 'will not quit' over report | Barak 'will not quit' over report |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said he will not quit Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government over its handling of the 2006 Lebanon war. | Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said he will not quit Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government over its handling of the 2006 Lebanon war. |
| His decision comes after an official inquiry called the war a failure, but spared Mr Olmert serious criticism. | His decision comes after an official inquiry called the war a failure, but spared Mr Olmert serious criticism. |
| Mr Barak had threatened - depending on the report's findings - to demand Mr Olmert's resignation or early polls. | Mr Barak had threatened - depending on the report's findings - to demand Mr Olmert's resignation or early polls. |
| If Mr Barak had pulled Labor's 19 members from the coalition, Mr Olmert looked set to face new elections. | If Mr Barak had pulled Labor's 19 members from the coalition, Mr Olmert looked set to face new elections. |
| "Why am I staying? I'm staying in the post of defence minister because I know what kind of challenges face Israel," Mr Barak told reporters, before entering Sunday's weekly Cabinet meeting. | |
| Political survival | |
| Correspondents say Mr Barak's decision removes for now any threat to Mr Olmert's government. | |
| The war was widely regarded by the Israeli public as a failure | |
| The prime minister insisted he would not step down last Wednesday after the publication of the official inquiry into the Lebanon war. | |
| Although it did not blame Mr Olmert directly, it found the conflict against Hezbollah had been a "large and serious" failure. | |
| The war broke out in July 2006, when Hezbollah fighters captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross border raid. | |
| If Mr Barak had quit, Mr Olmert's coalition would have been left short of the 61 MPs needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset (Israeli parliament). | |
| The defence minister's decision to remain in government may have been influenced by Labor's opinion poll ratings, say analysts. |