HomeNewsInternational Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister blamed for fiasco in last year’s war in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister blamed for fiasco in last year’s war in Lebanon.
Written by Branko Gold
Monday, 14 May 2007
The Winograd commission has released its initial findings on the last Lebanon War and has found the three main players at fault for the indecisive nature of their military decisions. Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Peretz and former Army Chief of Staff have all been implicated in error after error misjudgment after misjudgment. Mr. Olmert is being blamed for not taking into consideration the limits of air strikes to correctly neutralize rocket attacks on Israel. Mr. Peretz is being blamed for lacking any experience in the military and having no real input in the decision making process, and failing to avail himself of competent military advise. General Chalutz is being blamed for not heeding advice to carry out a comprehensive land offensive much earlier in the war. There is harsh criticism of the army’s overall poor state of readiness due to very minimal or almost non-existent training exercises for a possible war. The report states that the army wasted valuable training time and resources on police oriented exercises such as the Israeli pullback from the Gaza strip. This time period should have been used to actively plan and train for an eventual conflict. Analysts here in Israel are saying that Olmert and Peretz cannot continue to hold office for much longer Though spokesmen for both claim that resignation is not in the offing, analysts believe this to be some sort of stalling tactic. Mr. Olmert has received single digit approval rating from polls conducted in the last few weeks. Mr. Peretz has publicly stated that he would gladly give up the Defense portfolio if given the Treasury post.
The eventual fall of the government may happen sooner rather than later and it is likely that a special session of Parliament will be convened to oust Olmert and his government.
This all points to the ultimate demise of the present Israeli government.
