Dear friends, I wanted to send you a brief word describing my position on the findings of the Winograd Committee and its meaning for the Meretz-Yahad Party, for the peace camp, and for Israel

The findings of the report, which is itself a partial report that focuses only on the first five days of the Second Lebanon War, constitute a harsh indictment of Israel's prime minister, defense minister, and former chief of staff. The failure of all three men in managing the crisis that erupted last July with the abduction of two Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Lebanon war and which turned into a war that lasted 33 days, is so severe, that the report leaves no question as to what they should do. The chief of staff has already resigned several months ago, and both Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Peretz must follow suit.

With their resignation, a new government should be formed. The likely candidates to head such a government are two senior ministers from within the ruling Kadima Party - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Vice Premier Shimon Peres. If consensus is formed inside Kadima around one of them, they would be able to form a new coalition and enjoy a majority in the Knesset.

We, in the Meretz-Yahad Party, see our role in fighting for the formation of a better government than the last one, and I believe that either Peres or Livni would be a better prime minister than Olmert. Of course, our support for the new government cannot be taken for granted. The platform of the new government must be in line with what we believe in, and the peace process must take center stage. To this effect, we would do our utmost so that the new coalition does not include the ultra-rightist Yisrael Beitenu of Avigdor Lieberman.

The failure of Olmert and Peretz does not necessitate early elections for parliament. The makeup of the current Knesset, which was voted into office only a year ago, is a relatively good one. It can offer a stable majority for different political coalitions, with a clear advantage for a center-left coalition. As far as I see it, the current Knesset has not let us down, and it must be given a chance to put forward a new government. There is every reason to believe that a new and better government can be formed.

The next few weeks will bring change to Israel. Our job is to ensure that the change will be a good one.

Yours,

Yossi Beilin