Menahem Begin announced his intention to resign in August and this came as a great surprise to the Israeli cabinet as well as to those close to him. Since the death of his wife at the end of 1982, he had been unable to function properly as prime minister and to provide leadership. The Kahan Commission Report into the killings in the Sabra and Shatilla camps had further called into question his leadership during Operation Peace for Galilee and his judgement in deferring to the approach of the defence minister, Ariel Sharon. The report and the cabinet’s decision, by a vote of 16–1, to accept the commission’s recommendations finally led to Sharon’s resignation despite Begin’s support for him. Sharon refused to accept ‘indirect responsibility’ for the killings in the camps at Sabra and Shatilla and remained in the cabinet as minister without portfolio.