State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss has assigned a staff of 50, headed by his new director general, Shlomo Gur, to investigate the war in Lebanon.

Lindenstrauss began probing the events of the war and on the home front immediately after the fighting in the North subsided.

The Knesset State Control Committee expects the comptroller to submit an interim report soon; the opposition is hoping to use this report to promote the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to probe the war. The head of the committee, MK Esterina Tratman (Yisrael Beitenu) is spearheading the drive for a commission of inquiry and asked the comptroller for an interim report about a month ago.

	Advertisement

Lindenstrauss advised the committee a few weeks ago that he would consider summoning the prime minister, defense minister and Israel Defense Forces officers for questioning. "I don't rule out the possibility that if we need explanations, we'll approach everyone," he said.

Lindenstrauss and his office's security chief met on Thursday with the commanders of the Galilee division under the command of Brigadier General Gal Hirsch. The two also met with heads of northern communities, IDF and police officers and senior state officials.

The High Court of Justice on Thursday told the government that it had six days to explain why a national panel of inquiry independent of the government had not been established to investigate the handling of the recent war in Lebanon.

The current panel, the Winograd Committee, comprises members appointed by the government who are charged with investigating the activities of the political and military echelon during the war.