Region | Palestinian Territories
Lebanon war was 'big and serious failure' says Winograd report
Winograd report says 2006 war did not achieve military goals but gives backing to Israeli Prime Minister over failed last minute offensive.
- Agencies
- Published: 19:41 January 30, 2008
- Olmert had come under severe criticism for his decisions in the Lebanon war of 2006
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
Occupied Jerusalem: Israel's war on Lebanon was a ‘big and serious failure' according to the long awaited Winograd Commission report on the 2006 conflict.
The report, which was commissioned in the aftermath of the war which was waged after Hezbollah fighters kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, will increase the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign.
However, Olmert will be heartened that the report supported one of Olmert's most hotly contested decisions in the whole conflict - a last minute offensive which claimed the lives of more than 30 Israeli soldiers.
Speaking after the report was released, the report's author Eliyahu Winograd criticized the lack of an exit strategy when Israel started the war, adding that there was "a great deal of failure at senior political and military levels."
He told reporters that Israel had did not make “efficient use of its military prowess'' and “did not achieve any military goals.''
The criticism will raise the pressure on Olmert, who is the only senior person highlighted by Winograd who is still in his position of power, to resign.
But while Winograd said there were no personal conclusions in his report about Olmert's future, he added that it did not mean that personal responsibility did not exist.
There was huge comfort for Olmert however, in the assessment of the decision to stage a final ground offensive when a ceasefire was about to be announced.
More than 30 Israeli soldiers were killed in a last-minute offensive launched shortly before a UN-brokered truce went into effect.
Olmert had come under severe criticism for ordering the battle, despite his contention that the offensive improved Israel's position before the cease-fire.
But the report author said: “We are persuaded that both the prime minister and the defence minister operated out of a strong and honest assessment and understanding of what, to them, was seen as necessary for Israel's interests.''
After conflict: Snapshots of key players
Here is a snapshot of the main figures, apart from Ehud Olmert, in the 2006 war with Lebanon:
Amir Peretz - A former union leader with no defence experience who became Israel's defence minister thanks to a pact with Olmert, Peretz immediately came under fire for bungling the Lebanon campaign. He stepped down only when he was forced out in an internal party election in 2007.
Sidelined and reduced to the status of a party backbencher, Peretz has been little heard from since.
Dan Halutz - A former fighter pilot who became the first air force officer ever to head the Israeli military as chief of staff, he was criticised for depending on air power and neglecting ground forces before and during the conflict. Halutz resigned in January 2007.
Has since gone into private business and maintains a low public profile in Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah - Hezbollah's charismatic leader, Nasrallah remains popular as a symbol of resistance against Israel, but has rarely appeared in public since the war for fear of an Israeli assassination.
Has not been able to deliver a deal freeing Arab prisoners in return for his two Israeli captives.
Eldad Regev & Ehud Goldwasser - Israel believes the two reserve soldiers, whose capture by Hezbollah sparked the conflict, were badly wounded in the July 12 attack. Israel is reportedly holding at least seven Lebanon prisoners, and Hezbollah wants them released in return for the two.
Hezbollah has not allowed Red Cross representatives to see them and has offered no sign the two are still alive.
- AP
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