Last update - 00:00 17/09/2006
FM: Mistakes were made during war, but aim was Israel's security
By Aluf Benn and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday slammed former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon for his recent comments to Haaretz over the government's mishandling of the war in Lebanon, saying that while mistakes had been made, the primary goal of the war had been Israel's security.
Livni blasted Ya'alon's decry of launching the ground operation at the end of war in which 33 Israel Defense Forces soldiers died, saying "the idea that the soldiers were not thought of is unacceptable."
Ya'alon told Haaretz last week that the war "had no substantive security-political goal, only a spin goal" and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Chief of Staff Dan Halutz.
The cabinet on Sunday approved the formation of a government commission of inquiry into the handling of the second war in Lebanon, a panel which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said would have powers equal to a state inquiry.
The cabinet approved the committee by a 20-2 vote with one abstention. The inquiry, headed by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, will look at decisions made by political and military leaders during the 34-day conflict.
Labor ministers Eitan Cabel and Ophir Pines-Paz voted against the motion. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, of Kadima, abstained.
Olmert said earlier Sunday that the government would grant the panel the same powers as a state investigation.
"It is the intention of the government to bestow upon the committee the powers of a state investigation, in accordance with the law," Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
"I hope that this will help the country prepare better for [future] challenges."
Olmert lashes out at Ya'alon
During the meeting, Olmert mounted a harsh if veiled verbal attack on Mofaz and former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon in response to their interview to Haaretz, in which they were highly critical of the prime minister.
Olmert did not mention the two by name. But in an apparent reference to Mofaz and Ya'alon, Olmert told the ministers, "if there are those who can't deal with their bitterness, they're better off just letting the panel carry out its investigation."
Citing a recent interview in which Ya'alon suggested that the war had been mishandled and that some battles had been fought for purposes of public relations, Olmert said "I don't understand how someone dares to say to dozens of bereaved families that their sons were sent for a 'photo opportunity' before the committee has worked and the facts were cleared up."
"It's a shame that someone would decide to drag families who lost their dearest loved ones into an argument on his behalf," added the prime minister
Labor ministers vote against committee
Cabel explained his decision to oppose the governmental commission in an interview on Israel Radio "from the very beginning I believed that for the sake of appearances, and in order to restore public faith in the government, a state commission of inquiry must be formed."
"I don't think it's petty to insist on a state commission. The important thing now is for the commission to begin its work, but I must say that the public's trust is important as well. If the powers granted to the governmental panel are the same as a state panel would have, why not form a state panel in the first place?" Cabel added.
"Right now we are all supporting the [Winograd] commission," he concluded.
Tourism Minister Yitzhak Herzog said after the cabinet meeting that "the investigation must be commenced, and that's it. We didn't choose to form a state commission because it would have been too stringent and cumbersome." He said that the governmental commission that was approved would "have a lot of authority, yet be more flexible."
Both Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz were to sign the document authorizing the establishment of the committee, which states that both ministers will receive copies of its report.
The involvement of the defense minister in the appointment is intended to illustrate its two-pronged function, to scrutinize the actions of both the government and the defense echelons.
Peretz has backed the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, and has yet to announce officially that he has shifted his support to the Winograd panel. However, the Prime Minister's Bureau expects him to do so.
The panel will be asked to recommend improvements in the decision-making process and in the advice given to government and senior security officials.
As in state commissions, those who give testimony will be granted immunity. In addition to Winograd, four other members will serve on the committee: retired Israel Defense Forces generals Menachem Einan and Haim Nadal, jurist Prof. Ruth Gavison and public policy scholar Prof. Yehezkel Dror.
The assembling of the committee has been a complicated and lengthy process, due to difficulty in finding candidates for membership who did not have business or other connections to the defense establishment, and did not take a public stand during the war or advise the prime minister, the defense minister or the chief of staff.
With the appointment of the Winograd panel, Olmert will relinquish his plan to ask State Comptroller Lindenstrauss to submit a report on the home front's preparedness.
The decision to form the Winograd panel won the approval of all but two cabinet ministers, Ophir Pines-Paz and Eitan Cabel.
Protests build against government probe
The expected establishment of the Winograd has ratcheted up protests against the panel and demands for a state commission of inquiry.
Reserve soldiers are to demonstrate this morning across from the government compound in Jerusalem, along with supporters of the Movement for Quality Government. Protest leaders said that despite the vote, the demand was rising for a state commission both by the people and politicians.
The Movement for Quality Government staged a protest Friday in front of the home of Defense Minister Amir Peretz in Sderot. Peretz, for whom the demonstrators waited for four hours, agreed to meet with some of them. "We explained to him that it is not enough for him to declare his support for a state commission - he has the power to establish one. All he has to do is refuse to sign the document authorizing the Winograd committee and the prime minister will have no choice but to establish the state commission," attorney Eliad Shraga, chairman of the movement, said.
Shraga also said he believed Peretz would toe Olmert's line, but that the Winograd committee would cease its activities because of either High Court or Knesset intervention.