Israeli war report criticizes leadership

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-31-2008 08:37

The head of the Israeli panel investigating the country's 2006 Lebanon war says investigators found "serious deficiencies and mistakes" in Israel's political and military leadership during the conflict.

The panel issued its highly anticipated final report on the war after a 16-month investigation. (CCTV.com)

But he says Prime Minister Ehud Olmert acted in what he thought was the interest of the state.

The panel issued its highly anticipated final report on the war after a 16-month investigation.

It stopped short of holding Olmert personally responsible for the war's failures giving the embattled Israeli leader a small boost as he moves forward with peace talks with the Palestinians.

Eliyahu Winograd, the head of the panel, says the war ended without victory, and the army did not provide an effective response to Hezbollah's rocket fire on Israel.

Another member of the panel also spoke to a packed auditorium in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Rut Gabizon, Former Judge, Investigating Panel Member, said, "Israel initiated the long war which ended without its clear military victory. A semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and advantages of size and technology. The barrage of rockets aimed at Israel's civilian population lasted throughout the war, and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it."

A large section of the report was devoted to the last-minute offensive that stirred great controversy... because it was ordered just as the UN truce was about to go into effect. More than 30 Israeli soldiers were killed in that fighting.

The panel says the 11th-hour offensive failed in its mission, did not improve Israel's position and the army was not prepared for it. But the panel says the goals of the operation were legitimate.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah responded quickly to the report.

Hussein Rahal, Spokesman of Hezbollah, said, "From a moral point of view, the report is trying to justify to the Israeli army what it committed in the war. On the other hand, it puts the problem in how the decision of war was taken, and not in the moral problem of such a decision."

Winograd, the head of the panel, says the committee had decided not to assign personal blame for the war's shortcomings preferring instead to search for ways to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

The war erupted on July 12, 2006, when Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into Israel, killing three Israeli soldiers and capturing two others.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei