Last update - 00:00 22/04/2007
PM defends war in shadow of probe: 'Main objective was achieved'
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking as reports emerged Sunday that the Winograd Committee would harshly criticize the wartime performance of senior government and military officials, defended the war as an "unavoidable" struggle that had achieved its main objective, and had brought about a situation in which Hezbollah operations had been "entirely neutralized."
"The fact is that the northern border is absolutely quiet. There is no threat to the border, because there are no Hezbollah emplacements there," Olmert told Israel Radio in remarks broadcast on Sunday. "There is an international army and the Lebanese army, 26,000 soldiers, which have neutralized Hezbollah operations entirely in the area of the south.
"The principle aim we sought to attain, the 'change of the equation,' was realized, at a very tough price, under difficult circumstances."
The Winograd Committee's interim report, to be released in about a week, is expected to include a severe evaluation of the functioning of the government and the Israel Defense Forces during the war.
Criticism of the army will focus on the acceptance of the presence of Hezbollah in positions along the northern border and continued cut backs in IDF training during the years of the second intifada.
Pledging to correct failings detected in the course of the war, Olmert said that, had the mistakes not been exposed last summer, Israel might have paid an even higher price for them in a future conflict.
The committee's previously released statements note that Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Halutz will be taken to task. The GOC Northern Command, Udi Adam, who has since resigned, will also be criticized, although this criticism will apparently be reserved for the final report.
At this stage, the report only deals with the first days of the war, during which the Northern Command functioned with few hitches.
Committee members have said recently that they will not make the same mistake as the Agranat Committee on the Yom Kippur War, which mainly blamed the military.
Olmert: Hezbollah threat 'not as it was'
Olmert, speaking on the eve of the memorial day for fallen soldiers, said "This year we lost 233 soldiers, who fell in the difficult war to safeguard the north of the state of Israel. I have no doubt that each one of the victims paid the very dear price on a struggle that was unavoidable."
Referring to the threat of rocket and other attacks by Hezbollah, Olmert said, "Thank God, on this eve of Fallen Soldier's Remembrance Day, we can say that this threat is not as it was for very many years."
Olmert turned aside questions about the military's inability to curb the thousands of Katyusha rockets that struck Israel during the war, and the government's failure to win the release of captured soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. But he said the government was making great efforts to bring them home."
But he added that "The fact is that the northern border is absolutely quiet. There is no threat to the border, because there are no Hezbollah emplacements there. There is an international army and the Lebanese army, 26,000 soldiers, which have neutralized Hezbollah operations entirely in the area of the south.
"The principle aim we sought to attain, the 'change of the equation,' was realized, at a very tough price, under difficult circumstances, and we will certainly learn the lessons of all the events that occurred. We will make sure to correct the mistakes. We will make certain to prepare better for all that is connected to the military reality, but the equation has changed.
According to Olmert, "There is no question that failings and errors requiring correction were detected. We were fortunate that they were uncovered in the course of these events. I have no doubt that had it not been for the fighting in the summer of 2006, that when we would have [eventually] discovered these failings and errors, we would have been forced to pay a much higher price."
Tamir: Army misled gov't on going to war
Education Minister Yuli Tamir on Saturday said on Channel 2's "Meet the Press" that the government was misled by the army when it voted to go to war, calling the information on which it depended "one-dimensional." With regard to the responsibility of former chief of staff Dan Halutz, she said "it is no coincidence that this chief of staff is no longer serving in his position."
The committee will probably at least partly exonerate Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, commander of Division 91. Hirsch was harshly criticized by the Almog Committee investigating the kidnapping of the two reserve soldiers after which the war broke out. He resigned after Halutz failed to support him.
Hirsch presented the committee with numerous documents supporting his arguments. Committee members have recently said that Hirsch was unjustly treated, following a public outcry at the results of the Almog Committee investigation. They accepted Hirsch's contention that the presence of Hezbollah positions on the border (which he had warned about) made it difficult to prevent the kidnapping.