Most Israelis think Olmert should quit

Occupied Jerusalem: Two Israelis in three think their prime minister should quit after a damning inquiry found he rushed into an ill-judged war in Lebanon last year.

But Ehud Olmert, as widely predicted, is toughing it out, accepting responsibility for "many mistakes" that left over 1,300 people dead in 34 days of fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas but insisting he is the best man to put them right.

A survivor of decades at the heart of Israel's combative politics, he declared himself "indestructible" last month.

And despite a poll showing 69 per cent of Israelis thought he should quit after the government-appointed Winograd commission issued its scathing interim report on his conduct of the war on Monday, many concede the 61-year-old Olmert remains well-placed at the heart of a complex coalition to ride out the storm.

"It would not be right to quit and I have no intention of doing so," he told Israelis in a concise televised address, hours after the nation had watched former Supreme Court judge Eliyahu Winograd read out a litany of failings on the part of Olmert, his defence minister and the former head of the army.

Some 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, including about 900 civilians, while 117 Israeli troops died along with 41 civilians caught in Hezbollah rocket strikes on northern Israel.

"This government made the decisions and this government will deal with correcting the defects," Olmert told the nation on Monday. The cabinet would meet on Wednesday to discuss how.

After a series of sleaze and graft allegations, many Israelis are disillusioned with their political class and some saw the report on the war as the final straw for the premier.