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Israeli Defense Minister To Remain In Government

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2008

JERUSALEM - Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister and the leader of the Labor Party, announced Sunday that he would remain in the government, stabilizing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition despite last week's harsh report on the political and military leaders' handling of the Lebanon war in 2006.

Barak had said during party primaries last May that he would seek to form a new government or to set a date for early elections if the prime minister did not resign by the time the government-appointed commission, looking into the conduct of the war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, issued its final report.

Explaining his decision to stay on, Barak cited the challenges facing Israel, among them the continued threat from Hezbollah, which, Israeli officials contend, has fully re-armed since the war.

Barak also mentioned threats from the Gaza Strip, Syria and Iran, as well as the need to improve operations of the army and the negotiations, which the center-left Labor Party supports, with the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

The New York Times

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