JERUSALEM, 2 May 2007 — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday faced an onslaught of calls for his resignation and a Cabinet minister disillusioned by his leadership quit, following a government panel’s harsh criticism of the Israeli leader’s handling of last summer’s Lebanon war.

Olmert defiantly declared he would not quit after the panel’s report was released Monday, despite the inquiry’s conclusion that he showed flawed judgment in ordering and directing the conflict. His spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said yesterday he was confident he could recover his eroded authority.

“He has complete awareness of the lack of public confidence, but he feels that rather than go into a period of turmoil, he must be the one to fix the problems,” Eisin said. “He thinks that through his actions, (public) support will come.”

He faces a tough challenge. Newspaper editorials and commentators demanded that he step down, saying he had lost the confidence of the Israeli people. The report “contains not even one lenient word to which the prime minister could cling in order to prolong his term,” the Haaretz newspaper said in an editorial. “On the Way Out,” said the lead headline in the Maariv daily.

Opinion polls predict hawkish former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of the opposition Likud Party, would sweep to victory if a new vote were held.

Olmert confidants have said only mass protests could force him to quit. He also might face an uprising within his Kadima Party that might force him out of office. Olmert called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet today to discuss the war probe.

In a first crack in that backing, Cabinet minister Eitan Cabel of the Labor Party resigned from the Cabinet yesterday and called on the prime minister to follow suit. “He must bear responsibility,” Cabel told a news conference. “I can no longer sit in a government led by Ehud Olmert.”

Later yesterday, Kadima lawmaker Marina Solodkin also urged Olmert to resign — the first member of his party to public do so. However, party officials said she represented a minority view. “There is no reason to rush and cut off heads,” Cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit said. Kadima and Labor are the coalition’s two biggest factions.

Olmert aides said the prime minister stayed up all night reading the results of the investigation.