Olmert-Appointed Winograd Commission Admits Israeli War on Lebanon Large and Serious Failure But Shields Prime Minister

Winograd Report: Israeli war on Lebanon "large and serious failure"
Date: 30 / 01 / 2008 Time: 20:38

Bethlehem- Ma'an-

The (Olmert-appointed Commission) Israeli inquiry into the 2006 Israeli war with Lebanon has found that Israel did not achieve its military objectives and the war constituted "a large and serious failure".

"We found grave failings in decision-making... both on the military and political levels," Chairman of the Winograd panel Justice Eliyahu Winograd told a press conference on Wednesday evening.

Avoiding any direct criticism of any member of the military or political establishment, he also suggested that lessons could be learned from the report's findings. However, he said that this did not mean that there was no personal accountability.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is insisting he will not step down after the report's findings. But if his political partner Ehud Barak decides to withdraw his Labour Party from the coalition, Olmert's government will be in trouble.

Justice Winograd said Israel initiated on a prolonged war and then did not achieve a clear victory, despite its overwhelming military superiority over Hizbullah.

Justice Winograd also added the fact that Israel did not achieve its objectives in the war that it initiated looked bad for Israel in front of its Arab neighbors and other regional powers.

He said the panel found severe failures in decision making at both the political and military levels to adequately deploy and manage the air and ground forces.

Prior to making the decision to go to war, there were two choices for Israel. First, inflict a very heavy and painful blow to Hizbullah, and second, to change the status quo and temporarily occupy the area. But the way the decision to go to war was made, the various options available to the leadership and the exit strategy all served to make the Lebanon war a serious failure, the report found.

Israel did not use its potential strength in a smart way despite the fact that it initiated the war, Justice Winograd said.

The war was not carried out according to information obtained from the field about the ongoing operation. In addition, Israel did not achieve any political or military goals.

The report also criticized the mechanism of the decision making and stated that Israel did not obtain an organized and effective tool to make decisions during the war despite the professionalism of the team that worked with the prime minister, which made the coordination between the political and military achievement impossible.

The report doubted the necessity of the ground operation that was approved by Olmert in the final days of the war. "It is not clear to what extent this operation was helpful in reaching a ceasefire or in its effect on Hizbullah's political and military decisions. In addition, the manner in which the ground operation was conducted raises a lot of questions, which was part of the failure to manage the war and therefore it also failed to achieve its objectives," the report stated.

The report held the political establishment fully responsible for the decision to go to war and the manner in which it was conducted. It stated that they did not see any follow up from the political leadership to the fighting on the ground and that their relation with the military establishment was shaky and uncoordinated.

The war broke out in July 2006, when Hezbollah fighters captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross border raid that left three other soldiers dead.

In the conflict that followed, more than 1,000 Lebanese died, mostly civilians, along with 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

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