Agence France-Presse,
An Israeli government commission on Monday accused Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of “serious failure” in the Lebanon war but he refused to step down despite the blow to his flagging leadership.
Retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, reading from partial findings of an investigation, held Olmert, Defence Minister Amir Peretz and former army chief Dan Halutz principally responsible for the failings of last summer's conflict.
“If each or anyone of those would have acted better, the decisions and the results of the war would have been different or better,” Winograd said of the war that began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12.
“The prime minister made up his mind hastily, despite the fact that no detailed military plan was submitted to him and without asking for one,” despite his lack of experience in foreign policy and military affairs.
“He made a personal contribution to the fact that the declared goals were over-ambitious and not feasible,” the report said, accusing Olmert of not properly considering political and professional reservations presented to him.
“All of these add up to a serious failure in exercising judgement, responsibility and prudence,” said the report.
The devastating conflict, called the Second Lebanon War in Israel, lasted 34 days and killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers, according to government figures.
It failed to retrieve the two Israeli soldiers or stop Hezbollah rocket fire that sent a million Israelis fleeing from the north.
The premier, who received a copy of the damning report one hour before Winograd made his findings public, refused to resign but vowed to correct the mistakes.
“It would not be timely for me to resign and I do not intend to do so,” Olmert said in a televised address after the report was released.
The leader of the centrist Kadima party, however, acknowledged that “many mistakes were made by those who took the decisions, with me at the head. These mistakes must be rectified.”
Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, quoted on Israeli radio, said: “We cannot fling the country into a crisis and go into early elections.”
The Winograd Commission — set up last year to appease angry army reservists — was equally withering about Peretz, whose previous military experience was limited to national service, and Halutz, who resigned in January.
“The minister of defence failed in fulfilling his functions… The chief of staff failed in his duties as commander in chief of the army,” the report said.
The partial report stopped short of recommending that Olmert quit but the premier will now face the biggest fight of his political career, what one Israeli daily termed a “war for survival”.
The United States moved swiftly to bolster its closest regional ally, as a White House spokesman told reporters that US President George W. Bush views Olmert as “essential” to Middle East peace efforts.
But his numerous critics immediately mounted calls for his government to resign, with a mass demonstration planned in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Several dozen demonstrators gathered outside Olmert's Jerusalem residence into the evening, shouting “Olmert and Peretz resign” with Yossi Beilin, the leader of left-wing opposition Meretz party, among those gathered.
In a snap opinion poll of 500 Israelis, public radio said that 69 percent of those questioned wanted Olmert to resign, while 15 percent were against and the rest gave no opinion.
In Lebanon, meanwhile, a senior Hezbollah official said the damning report amounted to “an admission of Israel's historic defeat”.
Weakened by the war and a string of corruption scandals implicating him and senior members of his government, Olmert's ratings have sunk to an historic low with just two percent of Israelis trusting him, according to opinion polls.
But with a 78-strong coalition in the 120-seat parliament, a strong economy, an unclear succession and a public seemingly reluctant to protest en masse, the man known for his political acumen has room to manoeuvre, observers say.
Monday's partial report spanned the period from Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, following two decades of occupation, until July 17, five days after the deadly Hezbollah raid. A full report is due by year-end.
