Last update - 00:00 08/12/2006
PMO withheld war data from state comptroller
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent
The Prime Minister's office delayed over three months the transfer to the State Comptroller's Office of documents pertaining to cabinet and security cabinet meetings relevant to the war in Lebanon. The matter was only resolved in recent days, after the comptroller more clearly defined the war-related subjects he intended to deal with.
The dispute between the offices of the prime minister and the state comptroller emerged when the latter requested to see documents on cabinet meetings relating to the second Lebanon war.
The request was turned down, with the Prime Minister's Office maintaining that documents that include top secret information could not be released. It was also claimed that the areas to be investigated by the comptroller must be clearly defined before any material would be made available.
Meetings between the prime minister's chief of staff, Yoram Turbowitz; Government Secretary Yisrael Maimon; the director general of the comptroller's office, Shlomo Gur; and Major General (res.) Mandy Or, head of the department investigating defense issues at the state comptroller's office, came to naught.
According to the Basic Law on the State Comptroller, a body being investigated must present, without delay, documents and information and any other material that the comptroller considers necessary for his work. Nonetheless, so long as the dispute continued, no documents were forthcoming to the comptroller. A solution to the impasse was found only when the areas on which the comptroller's investigation would focus were specified.
It was agreed that the state comptroller will not deal with the conduct of the war or the government decisions in its various forums, or in various operations. Nonetheless, there are still many areas that the state comptroller can investigate, some of them sensitive.
The comptroller, for example, will examine the pre-war readiness of the Israel Defense Forces, including the state of emergency stores, logistics, and the training of reserve units. The comptroller will also look into different aspects of readiness having to do with intelligence. Teams of staff from the comptroller's office will probe the readiness of the Home Front, the local authorities, the conduct of these bodies following the outbreak of hostilities, preparations for bomb shelters and plans for dealing with dangerous substances. Israel's public relations will also be examined.