Olmert says Lebanon war was a success

Olmert spoke at a meeting with the Israel Defense Forces General Staff members, where he heard the lessons drawn from the war and praised Resigning Chief of Staff Dan Halutz.

The major conclusions and findings of the various teams that investigated the failures of the war were presented to the prime minister at the meeting. Former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron, who examined the work of the General Staff, came to the meeting to present its actions during the war.

According to Olmert, "There were successes during the war, but there were also failures from which we must draw lessons and work to fix them so that they don’t repeat themselves.

"If someone had said on July 11 that in half a year southern Lebanon would Hizbullah free, without one Hizbullah member sitting on the border, and that not one border incident would take place and that an army of 15,00 people would sit there, including the Lebanon army, he would have been deemed crazy."

Olmert with General Staff members (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom, GPO)

The meeting was conducted by the resigning chief of staff. The future army chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, whose appointment has yet to be approved by the government, did not take part in the meeting.

During the meeting, each major general briefed the participants of the inquiries he was responsible for.

The generals referred to a series of military achievements during the war, including the fact that no long-range Zilzal missile was fired at Israel. They also mentioned the fact that the long-range Fajr missile arsenals were destroyed in 34 minutes during the first night of the war, and that Hizbullah's infrastructures and the organization's operational abilities were badly damaged.

However, the generals also mentioned the IDF's failures and the fact that the objectives defined were not met.

One of the meeting attendees said that "the generals did not spare their criticism where needed." However, several of them complained that the IDF's great achievements during the war were not published.

'Halutz, a brave man'

The personal issues regarding the commanders' personal responsibility were not raised during the meeting. The resignations of Brigadier-General Gal Hirsch, commander of the Galilee Division, and Northern Command Chief Major-General Udi Adam were not mentioned.

The prime minister, however, expressed his deep regret over Halutz's resignation.

"I have only warm words for Dan Halutz, who is a brave man," he said. 

Olmert added that "we can learn about Halutz from the inquiries he instructed the army to carry out. I appreciate and admire the courage he manifested in the inquiries held after the end of the war. I also admire him for the fact that he selected people with a lot of criticism to carry out the inquiries and did not leave one detail uninvestigated."

Olmert said he was confident that the IDF would draw the necessary conclusions brought forward by the series of probes into its conduct.

"The manner in which the IDF investigated itself after the war will contribute to the sense of pride, strength and dedication of young commanders until they themselves reach the General Staff. The lessons of this war – must not discourage tomorrow's leaders of the IDF. These probes and war's successes will show the way for the IDF's young officers," said Olmert.

The prime minister also expressed his hope to soon receive the complete findings of the inquiries so that he can study them in depth.

Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon testified Thursday for the second time before the Winograd Committee, investigating the conduct of IDF and the government during the second Lebanon war.

The former Chief of Staff was summoned once before to provide details that were missing from various testimonies. Three weeks ago, Yaalon provided details regarding IDF military tactics for clashes with Hizbullah and IDF activities in the northern region after the abduction of the three soldiers in 2000.