Last update - 00:00 14/03/2007
Committees agree to skip word 'war' in naming war in Lebanon
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Though it is not yet clear who will give the official name to last summer's war in Lebanon, both possible committees founded for that purpose oppose using the word "war" in the name.
On Monday, Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced he had appointed a public committee headed by attorney David Libai to recommend a name for the war. The committee, which will start meeting on Friday, will submit its eventual recommendation to the cabinet.
However, Minister Without Portfolio Jacob Edery (Kadima), who heads the ministerial committee on ceremonies and symbols, plans to convene his committee next Monday to choose a name for the war. Since a ministerial committee's decision is like a cabinet decision, this could circumvent the Libai Committee.
Yet both Edery and Libai claim that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved their panels' work.
On omitting the word "war" from the name, Edery explains "according to the cabinet decision, this was a campaign, and we can't change this."
That decision outrages David Einhorn, whose son Yehonatan was killed in the fighting. "750,000 people fled their homes, 117 people were killed," he said. "If that isn't a war, what is a war?"