Chairman of the opposition and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blamed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for the failure to vanquish militant group Hezbollah in the 34-day Second Lebanon War last summer, saying the biggest lesson we must learn from the war is that "weakness breeds attacks, strength repels them."

While touring the Israel-Lebanon border on the first anniversary of the July war, Netanyahu said the failed campaign against the Hezbollah emboldened Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

After the war, Palestinians from the Islamic Hamas faction stepped up rocket attacks against Israel and last month overran the Gaza Strip, ousting supporters of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' moderate Fatah faction.

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Earlier Thursday, Olmert also visited the northern border and said he remains convinced that the decision to go to war was the right one.

"There had been a need to eradicate once and for all the threat that hung over hundreds of thousands of people and create a new reality," Olmert said.

The prime minister visited an Israel Defense Forces outpost, as well as a Kiryat Shmona school and other structures that were damaged by nearly 4,000 rockets that Hezbollah launched on northern Israel during the 34-day war.

He conceded that there had been failures during the month-long war, but that the defense establishment had made every effort to correct them.

"We had in this war great achievements," Olmert said near a road that was hit by the Hezbollah rockets. "We also had not a few weaknesses and failures that we are trying to deal with... to fix, to deploy, to renovate and to strengthen."

"I remember this structure a year ago," Olmert said at the school, "I have seen the school today, there is something beyond a renovated structure here, there is a welcomed spirit of determination and optimism. You who live here, and have struggled with the hardships stemming from the lack of security, see the reality in a more sober light than others."

Kiryat Shmona Mayor Haim Barbivai told Olmert that "I am not sure why this nation complains and whines. The feeling of security has increased; the state's economy is blossoming. Why focus on the negative? It is true that there are still problems with employment and shelters, and that the education system, tourism and culture need to be improved, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Addressing the IDF activity in Gaza, Olmert said "we lost a soldier in a clash with terrorists overnight. We will continue to fight in the south and press on with press in with the efforts to build a fabric of life in the north.

During his visit to Kiryat Shmona, Olmert, a keen soccer fan, promised to allocate funds towards the renovation of the local soccer stadium.

Earlier Thursday, Israel's defense minister during the war, MK Amir Peretz, told Israel Radio on that the war had been Israel's war of "sobering up."

According to Peretz, as a result of the war, Israel is better prepared for security operations on all its fronts.

PMO Director General Dinur says home front not ready for war
The director general of the Prime Minister's Office, Raanan Dinur, said Wednesday that the home front is not fully prepared for war, although it is better organized than it was last year,

Dinur spoke at a news conference with five ministries directors general, who reported about implementing the lessons of the Second Lebanon War and preparing for future emergencies.

Dinur estimated that an investment of NIS 5 billion was required to build and renovate shelters nationwide. These shelters would not be completed either this year or the next, he said.

However, by the end of August, the entire country will be covered by missile alarm sirens, Dinur said. In the northern and central regions, advanced systems automatically activated by sensors that can identify missile launching have already been installed. By the end of the year, 92 percent of such systems will be installed all over the country, Dinur said.

By the end of August, the Defense Ministry is due to finish renovating 1,000 public shelters in the North; it will build 2,300 additional shelters by the end of the year. Interior Ministry director general Arye Bar said most of the shelters that had been renovated during the war had been looted and the furniture, TV sets and air conditioners had been stolen.

A donor who came to see what his money had been used for was hurt, Bar said.

Almost all the shelters in the northern border communities have been renovated. The shelters in the central region can accommodate only 70 to 80 percent of the population. In the South, things are even worse, except for the communities along the Gazan border.

The Home Front Command and the Interior Ministry are locating public areas that could be converted into shelters, such as underground parking lots in shopping malls and food chains. Hospital parking garages being built today are also intended for emergency accommodation of patients, Health Ministry director-general Prof. Avi Yisraeli said.

Altogether the government has allocated NIS 2.8 billion to bolstering the North and NIS 3.2 billion to rehabilitating structures damaged by the war. Some 123,000 businesses received NIS 1.75 billion out of the rehabilitation funds. NIS 1 billion was paid to 27,000 families whose property or homes were damaged. Some 5,000 farming and tourism businesses received NIS 460 million in compensation.