Ehud Olmert has told allies he will stay on as Israeli prime minister after an official inquiry into the 2006 Lebanon war granted him a reprieve.
An official in Mr Olmert's office said today the prime minister would implement recommendations laid out by the government-appointed Winograd Commission on Israel's 2006 war against Hizbullah guerrillas and would "continue to work".
The commission's final report issued on Wednesday described "serious failings" by political and army leaders during the war, but did not blame Mr Olmert personally and endorsed key and controversial decisions he made.
Mr Olmert won key backing within his own Kadima party. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who called for him to quit over a scathing interim report in April on the war, said the government should "stay and fix" the faults, according to a political source.
Political allies said Mr Olmert would soon try to build a broader coalition to pursue divisive talks to forge a deal on Palestinian statehood before President George W. Bush leaves office in a year.
Mr Olmert's political rivals had been positioning themselves for a resignation that could have triggered an early election. But the report was widely seen by commentators as a reprieve for the man who once described himself as "indestructible".