Last update - 00:00 12/01/2008
Kadima sources: Mofaz critique of war conduct gives him 'alibi'
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz's critique of the conduct of the Second Lebanon War is based on political considerations and serves to give him an alibi, sources in the Kadima faction said on Satuday.
Mofaz said earlier, in a closed conference hosted by the Geneva Initiative, that the war "failed" because of the way it was managed, not because of the IDF's level of preparedness before the war.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's bureau refused to comment on Mofaz's remarks, but senior party members said that the report "could also publicly reveal his [Mofaz's role] in the IDF's preparation for conflicts in the north during the years he served as IDF chief of staff and defense minister."
Mofaz told representatives at the conference on Saturday, "The management of the Second Lebanon War was confused and unsuccessful... In the six years before the war, I wouldn't have done anything differently. Until the war, we fought on the Palestinian front to prevent [suicide] attacks, and I wouldn't have launched an additional front in Lebanon," he said.
His comments came roughly two weeks before the January 30 release of the final Winograd Commission report on the management of the Second Lebanon War.
Mofaz also said Saturday during the conference that Israel should reach an agreement with the Palestinian Authority on an interim state before signing a final peace deal.
Mofaz, a former defense minister and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, said that the interim deal should grant a provisional Palestinian state temporary borders, and should not include a settlement on two of the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the fate of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees.
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