An Israeli panel investigating the conduct of the 2006 war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon publishes a final report on Wednesday that could rock Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government.

Here are short profiles of the people whose actions may shape Israel's political future after the report:

EHUD OLMERT

Became prime minister in January 2006 when Ariel Sharon fell into a coma after a stroke. Won subsequent election as head of the centrist Kadima party he founded with Sharon in 2005 and formed a coalition with the Labour party and religious and small parliamentary groups.

Hurt by graft probes and the interim Winograd report that criticised his conduct of the war, Olmert, 62, hung on to launch most serious peace talks with the Palestinians in seven years.

EHUD BARAK

As Labour leader and defence minister since June, the former prime minister and army chief indicated during his campaign for the party leadership that he might break up the coalition if the report condemned Olmert. But he has since kept plans vague and many analysts believe he will bide his time to build his own support before seeking to trigger an early election.

Barak, 66, negotiated peace with the Palestinians but talks broke down amid violence in 2000, costing him his job.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU

Hawkish opposition leader who was prime minister in the late 1990s, U.S.-educated Netanyahu, 58, is flying high in opinion polls at the head of right-wing Likud party. His party opposes major concessions to the Palestinians in peace talks.

TZIPI LIVNI

Chief peace negotiator and daughter of a prominent right-wing Zionist, Livni, 49, is seen as the likeliest successor from within Kadima. The former intelligence agent urged Olmert publicly to quit in May and then took fire herself for failing to resign when the prime minister defied her. Widely seen as positioning herself to be Israel's first woman leader since Golda Meir in the 1970s.

SHIMON PERES

As Israel's president, the 82-year-old Nobel Peace laureate and former Labour leader may have the task of asking someone else to form a government if Olmert is forced out.

ELIAHU WINOGRAD

Former Supreme Court justice Winograd, 81, chairs the five-strong commission that bears his name. The panel was appointed by the government to investigate the conduct of the war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

OTHER PLAYERS

Olmert could also face challenges from within Kadima from SHAUL MOFAZ, Iranian-born transport minister and former military chief, and AVI DICHTER, public security minister and former head of the Shin Bet security service.