Last update - 00:00 05/12/2006
Eisenkut: Gal Hirsch helped change face of Lebanese border
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
GOC Northern Command Gadi Eisenkut on Tuesday said that the reality along the northern border with Lebanon was different following the war, in part thanks to the former commander of Israel Defense Forces Division 91, Brigadier General Gal Hirsch.
During a ceremony honoring Hirsch on his last day as division commander, Eisenkut said "it is still early to judge what contributions [the war had] on the state of Israel's strategic situation," adding "one thing is clear - already, the reality along the northern border is different. Hezbollah positions are not covering the length of the border line, and the initiative demonstrated by Hirsch played a recognizable role in that."
Hirsch said during his address to the ceremony that "while we weren't successful in every operation, the IDF stood up to its tasks in Lebanon, and in the future a more balanced tale of the war will be told."
The former division commander resigned from his position after an army-appointed panel investigations found him responsible for the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers in the North.
The committee, headed by reserve major general Doron Almog, was appointed to investigate whether Hirsch sufficiently prepared his troops for potential Hezbollah threats, including abduction.
IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz held a hearing for Hirsch at the beginning of the week, and will decide in the next few days whether to allow Hirsch to remain in the service.
Command of the division will be assumed by current IDF chief paratroops officer Brigadier General Yossi Bachar.
Watchdog group asks court to reconsider State Inquiry
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which has opposed the current government investigation of the Lebanon war as insufficient, petitioned the High Court Tuesday morning to reopen hearings on a State Commission of Inquiry.
A special seven-justice panel of the court last week rejected a petition for a state inquiry by a 4-3 vote.
The petition calls for replacing the government committee, run by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd. The government committee was named by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to investigate the recent war and policies that led up to it.
Olmert has rejected charges that the scope of the Winograd panel, which is to report directly to the cabinet, would be too narrow to adequately probe the failures of the government and the military.
Advocates of a State Inquiry argue that it would be independent of government interference, and would have broad powers to elicit testimony.
The High Court has the power to hold a second hearing in cases where the verdict created a new protocol. However, the court has yet to allow an appeal to a verdict handed down by a panel of seven justices.
To date, only in cases where three or five justices heard a case, has the court re-opened cases to further review.
In special cases, an eleven-justice panel will hear a petition. Its ruling is considered final.