PM: Commission to Have State Powers
Excerpts;
The Winograd Commission of investigation into the management of the war in Lebanon will be given the same authority as a state commission, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting.
“It is the government’s intention to invest the committee with all the powers of a state inquiry commission, as required by law and according to the decision of the justice minister,” he said.
“I hope the committee will complete its task as quickly as possible and help the State of Israel better prepare itself for the challenges that await us,” Olmert said.
The government [meaning the cabinet mb] approved the appointment of the committee – to be chaired by retired Tel Aviv District Court judge Eliahu Winograd and comprising Prof. Ruth Gavison, Prof. Yehezkel Dror, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Menahem Einan and Maj.-Gen. (res.) Haim Nadel – after Defense Minister Amir Peretz caved into pressure from Olmert to vote in favor.
Peretz wasn’t the only Labor Party minister to support the decision. Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog (Labor) also expressed support for the committee at the beginning of the meeting.
“In light of the existing situation, the time has come to start a very comprehensive investigation, from the political echelons until the last military ranks,” Herzog said. “The Winograd Commission is a sufficient committee, comprising some of the most knowledgeable and acceptable people [there are].”
Commentary;
We should NOT all jump up and down about the fact that Olmert has designated that the Winograd Commission “will be given the same authority as a state commission.”
Google searches reveal very little about Judge Winograd other than this;
Dr. Eliyahu Winograd, former president of Tel Aviv Magistrate Court, has already headed a number of public commissions. He investigated university tuition, and recommended to lower it. As well, he examined the information in the hands of the IDF regarding the captured navigator, Ron Arad.
Another source indicates that the judge served on a committee regarding the military censor.
However, don’t discount the possibility that the Winogard commission may be, and it’s not saying much, superior to a possible commission initiated by legal, judicial revisionist Aaron Barak.
The questions are many, here are some;
1/ What is exactly meant by the same authority as a state commission? Subpeona powers? Legal redress in cases of criminal neglect, criminal mal-feasance, non-feasance?
2/ Recognizing the current state of political and judicial branches, will the Winograd commission smell out evasion, deep-six, etc. and have the teeth to make the perpetrators come clean? Or will the committee and it’s sub-committees be complicit in any cover-up or find a fall-guy to drop the responsibility on while the others evade responsibility”
3/ Finally, when it’s findings are made public and the responsibility chips fall where they may, on the heads of all who share responsibility for mis-managing the war, will they be replaced by objective people who have internalized the errors, all of them, from the year 2000 to the Expulsions from Gush Katif to the unpreparedness and possible lack of battle plan for a war on the Lebanon front? Will the corrupt hacks and cronies be forever dumped and replaced individuals with character traits of honesty, justice, morality and courage? These last questions are crucial to make Israel as it’s supposed to be, a Jewish sovereignty. If the answers here are negative, then we do no more than replace one set of corrupt hacks with another set who are no improvement and then sit and wait for the next fiascos to happen and for them to all avoid responsibility by finger-pointing at each other. Israel can no longer afford hacks and cronyism. MB