Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
attends a weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem April 29,
2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
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JERUSALEM,
April 30 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli government-appointed committee Monday accuses
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and former Chief of
Staff Dan Halutz of failing in their roles in last summer's Israel-Hezbollah
conflict.
The panel led by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd made
the remarks at a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon as he
formally released an interim report looking into Israeli leader's management of
the conflict which Israel called the Second Lebanon War.
Labelling Olmert's decision-making as irrational,
irresponsible, and lacking in caution, the report says Olmert acted hastily in
leading the country to war last July without having a comprehensive plan.
Olmert made up his mind hastily without asking for a
detailed military plan and without consulting military experts, it added.
According to the findings, Olmert made a personal
contribution to the fact that the war's goals were "over-ambitious and
unfeasible."
"The decision to respond with an immediate, intensive
military strike was not based on a detailed, comprehensive and authorized
military plan, based on careful study of the complex characteristics of the
Lebanon arena," Winograd told the media.
Turning to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, the
committee found that he did not have knowledge or experience in military,
political or governmental matters.
Despite these serious gaps, Peretz made his decisions
during the war without systemic consultations with experienced political and
professional experts, the report said, adding that his serving as defense
minister during the war impaired Israel's ability to respond well to its
challenges.
Dan Halutz, former IDF Chief of Staff who resigned in
January, was also under heavy criticism.
The panel accused Halutz of entering the war
"unprepared" and of failing to inform the political echelon of the serious
shortcomings in the preparedness and the fitness of the army for an extensive
ground operation.
It also faulted Halutz for not responding quickly
enough to the July 12 kidnapping of two IDF reservists in a cross-border raid by
Hezbollah guerillas.
Retired Israeli judge Eliahu Winograd
speaks to the press as he reads out the results of the government's
commission probing last year's Lebanon war in Jerusalem, 30 April 2007. A
government commission on Monday blasted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
and top army brass for "serious failure" in handling the Lebanon war,
dealing a heavy blow to his flagging leadership (Xinhua/AFP
Photo) Photo
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When
reading the conclusions of the inquiry, Winograd said that the outcome of the
war could have been better, had Olmert, Halutz, Peretz acted differently.
"The main responsibility for these severe failures
are placed on the prime minister, the defense minister, and the former chief of
staff. Had they acted differently, the results would have been different,"
Winograd said.
The committee also leveled criticism at the entire
government, saying that the cabinet voted to go to war without understanding the
implications of such a decision.
Israeli protesters attend a rally in
front of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's residence in Jerusalem April
30, 2007. Israel's Lebanon war inquiry commission levelled scathing
criticism against Olmert in an interim report on Monday that cast doubt on
the unpopular leader's political future. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
The members of the Winograd Committee on Monday
afternoon presented Olmert and Peretz with the report at the Prime Minister's
office in Jerusalem, an hour before the press conference to release the findings
to the public.
The 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah
erupted on July 12, 2006 when Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli
soldiers in a cross-border attack. Some 158 Israelis and 1200Lebanese were
killed during the confrontation.
JERUSALEM, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert said Monday that he would not resign despite a penal report blaming
him for launching last summer's war with Lebanese Hezbollah without sufficient
deliberation.
In the wake of the scathing Winograd
Committee interim report, Prime Minister Olmert vowed in a special TV address
that he will not resign despite the report's harsh conclusions, local newspaper
Yedioth Ahronoth reported. Full story
RAMALLAH, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian senior official
expressed expectation Monday that pressures would increase on the Palestinians
after a panel blamed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, which may lead to his
resignation.
The panel led by retired judge Eliahu
Winograd formally handed to Olmert the interim report Monday afternoon, looking
into Israeli leader's management of last summer's war with Lebanon. Full story
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