IDF demands advance draft of war report

State Comptroller's Office, MKs slam PM for delay in answering probe questions.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
lindenstrauss 298 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
lindenstrauss 298
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
The IDF announced on Sunday that it expected to receive for perusal a draft of the state comptroller's report on the management of the home front during the summer's war in Lebanon, prior to the report's publication. Meanwhile, Shlomo Gur, the director-general of the state comptroller's office, rejected offhand complaints from sources close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss was "harassing" the prime minister over a series of questions on the handling of the home front.
  • 'Olmert ignoring Comptroller's Law'
  • Gal-On: Publish Winograd testimonies In an interview with Army Radio, Gur said Olmert had every right to reply to the findings of the report on the Lebanon war, but had chosen to ignore all of Lindenstrauss's attempts to acquire his testimony. Olmert refused to meet with Lindenstrauss at the end of last year, it was reported on Friday, and requested instead that the comptroller submit the questions in writing. The prime minister, however, has yet to respond to the queries. Sources close to the prime minister have cited an unreasonable deadline as the reason. According to Gur, the state comptroller's office had looked over thousands of documents and questioned dozens of witnesses, and Olmert was the only one who had refused to show up for his testimony. In response to the accusations that the prime minister was given too little time to respond to the questions, Gur said that this was "a ridiculous claim," noting that Olmert had been asked to meet with Lindenstrauss in December. Gur joined a growing number of MKs who have demanded that Olmert submit his response to the state comptroller immediately. MK Zevulun Orlev (NU/NRP) criticized Olmert for his refusal to answer the questions, telling Israel Radio on Sunday morning that it was unknown when the next war would break out, and that Israel must therefore work without delay to fix the deficiencies that were present in the Lebanon war. He added that not only was Olmert holding back his answers to the state comptroller's questions, but that members of his office have also been waffling for the past two months on giving texts and protocols over to investigators. Coalition Chairman Avigdor Yitzhaki accused Lindenstrauss of harassing the prime minister, saying on Israel Radio that Olmert was given too little time to answer the questions and that the prime minister had promised to answer everything by end of month. Likud Faction Chairman Gideon Sa'ar, however, pointed out that Lindenstrauss was not Olmert's political foe, but was just doing his job. He added that the prime minister not immune to criticism.