Last update - 00:00 19/03/2007
Ministerial panel votes to declare Lebanon conflict a 'war'
By Nir Hasson and Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz
The Ministerial Committee for Symbols and Ceremonies decided on Monday that last summer's conflict in Lebanon should officially be defined as a war.
Until now, state representatives have avoided calling the battles against Hezbollah a war, and have used words such as operation, campaign, or fighting.
Even the tombstones of soldiers killed in the conflict read "killed in battle in Lebanon." The decision to call the conflict a war now obligates changing the inscription on soldiers' tombstones to read "fell in war in Lebanon."
The reason for the disagreement is that the government never officially declared war. The government decision on July 12 determined only that Israel would respond in a "resolute and harsh manner" against Hezbollah, without going into detail on the nature of the fighting.
However, after pressure from bereaved parents, the committee's chair, Yaakov Edrey, proposed defining the conflict as a war.
The proposals currently in place for the war's official name include the "Peace in the North" and "Northern Shield War," and "The Second War in Lebanon."
The decision on the name, which was expected to be reached during the meeting on Monday, has been postponed due to the opposition of legal advisers over the proposal "The Second War in Lebanon," since the first conflict in Lebanon was actually defined as an operation.
According to Edrey, the legal and economic ramifications of defining the conflict as a war are not significant because the government is already paying compensation to businesses in the north.
On Sunday, the second committee dealing with a name for the conflict held its first meeting. The committee, a public panel was appointed by Defense Minister Amir Peretz, is working on the assumption that the term war should not be used, and instead it should be called an operation. According to Edrey, the two committees are coordinating on the issue.
Related article: