Top Israeli general resigns over Lebanon war

Jerusalem: An Israeli general who was shunted aside as commander of the Lebanon front during a month of fighting against Hezbollah guerrillas resigned on Wednesday in a widely expected move.

Some Israeli military affairs commentators had questioned whether Major-General Udi Adam, a tank officer, had been the right choice to head the Northern Command and lead a campaign that relied largely on air power, artillery and infantry.

"Adam requested this morning to resign his position in the near future. The chief of staff has accepted Adam's request. He will be replaced in the near future in accordance with Israel Defence Forces procedure," an army spokesman said.

Local media reports said Adam tendered his resignation because of differences with army chief of staff Dan Halutz over the conduct of the 34-day offensive on Hezbollah, which ended under a UN-brokered ceasefire on August 14.

Adam had been widely expected to leave the army in the wake of a decision near the end of the 34-day war to appoint another general as "coordinator of operations in Lebanon" at the Northern Command.

"The state of Israel definitely owes (Adam) a great debt,"Defence Minister Amir Peretz told Israel Radio. "No doubt we need to examine the meaning of the (move), why he decided to do it ... such an announcement by a general cannot be ignored."

On Adam's watch, Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight other troops in a cross-border raid on July 12, an operation that triggered the fighting .

Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel, embarrassing the Middle East's most powerful army, and the soldiers are still being held.

Under public pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday appointed a retired judge to head an inquiry into the way the government and the military handled the war.