Winograd panel will start probe from 2000 pullout

The cabinet is expected to approve the establishment of a governmental committee of inquiry into the Lebanon war Sunday, after its composition and mandate were finalized yesterday.

The committee, headed by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, will examine how the government and defense establishment dealt with the Hezbollah threat in the years preceding the war, as well as how they conducted the war after it broke out on July 12.

In addition to Winograd, the committee will include two reservist major generals, Menahem Einan and Haim Nadel (whose appointment was approved yesterday), and two academics - law professor Ruth Gavison and professor of public administration Yehezkel Dror.

Former Mossad chief Nahum Admoni, who was Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's original choice to head the panel, will not be on it. According to the Prime Minister's Office, Admoni asked to be removed after the panel's mandate was expanded to include the defense establishment as well as the government.

According to the committee's letter of appointment, it will "investigate, draw conclusions and submit recommendations, as it sees fit, about the political echelon and defense establishment, with regard to all aspects of the war in the north that began on July 12, 2006." It will "also address, as it sees fit, the political echelon's conduct with regard to preparations and readiness for belligerent incidents and threat scenarios since the Hezbollah organization began digging itself in on the northern border, from diplomatic, military and civilian standpoints."

The latter clause means that the committee will also investigate Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon's governments, which were in power between Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 and the Olmert government's inauguration this spring.

The committee will also examine the defense establishment's "preparedness and readiness for the threat from Lebanon, including intelligence preparations, force building and preparing the forces for the various threat scenarios," as well as "the conduct of the fighting; the activation of forces, including the Home Front Command; and the systems that gave support and assistance during the fighting, including the decision-making processes."

This means that in addition to examining current office holders, the committee will examine the conduct of every defense minister, chief of staff, GOC Northern Command, head of Military Intelligence, and air force, navy and ground forces commander since Israel left Lebanon in 2000.

The committee was also asked to make recommendations "to improve the future decision-making processes of the political echelon and the heads of the defense establishment, including the materials and advice available to these parties." The Prime Minister's Office hopes this will encourage the committee to focus on recommendations for the future rather than assigning blame for the past.

Government sources predicted that the panel would recommend beefing up the long-term professional staff of the Prime Minister's Office, and perhaps also upgrading the status of the National Security Council.

The letter of appointment asks the committee to submit its conclusions as soon as possible. It may also submit partial or interim reports on "matters that, in its opinion, require its conclusions and recommendations to be implemented urgently."

The committee, which will have the power to subpoena witnesses, will decide which sections of its reports should be made public, and which should be submitted only to the prime and defense ministers. By law, these reports cannot be used as evidence in criminal proceedings.