Jerusalem - The Israeli government believed that last
summer's war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas would only last 10
days to two weeks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a commission
investigating the conflict, according to testimony released Thursday.
The testimony of Olmert, Defence Minister Peretz and former
military chief of staff Dan Haltuz, was released to the public less
than two weeks after the commission published an interim report
harshly critical of the way the three handled the first five days of
the war which, despite the government's initial assessment, lasted
for 33 days.
Olmert told the commission that throughout the conflict there had
been something 'defective' in the army's philosophy and perception of
command.
'Something in the way we operated our forces, something in how we
controlled them, wasn't what we expected - and there is no doubt that
this created a gap between what we could achieve, and what we
actually achieved,' he said.
'I think we had no other choice but to act immediately,' the prime
minister testified of the decision to launch an offensive after
Hezbollah snatched two Israeli soldiers, and killed several others,
in a cross-border raid on July 12.
The commission of inquiry into the war, headed by a retired judge,
said in its interim report released on April 30 that the government
had embarked on the war without setting 'clear goals,' fully weighing
other options and thinking through a 'detailed, comprehensive'
military plan.'
Since the publication of the scathing report, Olmert and Peretz
have been under intense public pressure to resign. Former chief of
staff Halutz quit in January, because of the stinging criticism of
the way he led the military during the fighting.
The commission is due to issue its final report in July.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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