A month after the Lebanon fighting stopped, the government
finally appointed a group that looks like it may actually
investigate the conduct of the war and the years leading up
to it.
The Cabinet has approved Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's choice
for a commission of inquiry into the 34-day offensive against
Hizbullah. Headed by retired High Court Justice Eliyahu
Winograd, the panel also includes two leading jurists and
former army generals. Since it is headed by a retired judge,
it is empowered by law to subpoena witnesses and to grant
them immunity from prosecution if it so chooses.
Olmert's critics, including hundreds of army reservists who
served in Lebanon and accuse his government and the military
top brass of incompetence, were not satisfied. They argue
that the commission was appointed by the very people it might
be expected to criticize, especially including PM Olmert and
his defense minister, Amir Peretz. They would still prefer an
independent probe
The Lebanon war cost 157 Israeli lives without delivering a
definitive victory over Hizbullah, as the government promised
at the outset. Syria and Iran are perceived by many as having
been bolstered by Hizbullah's defiant survival against the
Middle East's mightiest military.
The Israeli government says a quarter of Hizbullah's gunmen
were killed and half of its rockets used or destroyed in the
fighting.
Olmert has argued that Israel cannot afford an independent
inquiry, as it would take too long and breed recrimination
rather than cooperation in the effort to prepare for future
threats. But it was not clear when the so-called Winograd
Commission will complete its work. Cabinet Secretary Yisrael
Maimon told reporters that there was "no time frame" for the
panel.
Olmert angered many on the Right during the fighting by
saying that the offensive strengthens his government's hand
in carrying out withdrawals from the West Bank. But in the
aftermath of the war, he has shelved his plan for unilateral
territorial concessions to the Palestinians.
Many were upset by the final ground offensive ordered by
Olmert after he had agreed to the cease-fire. Thirty-three
soldiers died in those two days.
"That was a spin move. It had no substantive security-
political goal, only a spin goal. It was meant to supply the
missing victory picture," the former chief of staff, Moshe
Ya'alon said. "You don't do that. You don't send soldiers to
carry out a futile mission after the political outcome has
already been set. I consider that corrupt."
Two months before Hizbullah abducted two Israel Defense
Forces soldiers, Israel had learned of another plan by the
group to carry out an attack against an IDF patrol at the
same location. Sources said Hizbullah refrained from carrying
out the attack due to preventive actions taking by the IDF
based on its intelligence: it deployed large forces in the
area.
At that time, Israel contacted American and French diplomats,
and warned them that if Hizbullah attempted to kidnap IDF
soldiers again, Israel's response would include a large-scale
military operation. Israel assumed that the Americans and
French would relay the message to Hizbullah, but it is not
known if Israel's warning actually reached Hizbullah.
The successful abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser,
which sparked the war in the north, was the fifth attempt by
Hizbullah to kidnap IDF soldiers. Since the October 2000 this
was the only time Hizbullah succeeded in capturing IDF
soldiers and holding them as hostages.
