Winograd team: Bolster National Security Council

Shahak committee charged with implementing Winograd findings recommends National Security Council be invested with extensive power by placing it at center of decision-making process on security

Ronny Sofer|Last update: 07.03.07 , 11:23

The committee set up by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to implement the interim recommendations made by the commission that investigated last summer's war has advised the government to invest the National Security Council (NSC) with extensive powers.

The follow-up committee wants to overhaul the NSC by placing it at the center of the decision-making process on security and state matters.

The committee, headed by former chief of staff Amnon Lipkin Shahak, submitted its report to the Prime Minister's Office last week, and its proposals will be discussed by a special ministerial team this week.

If ministers approve the proposals, the National Security Council will be located in the Prime Minister's Office and its chief will report directly to the prime minister.

The Winograd Commission that investigated the management of last summer's war with Hizbullah criticized the lack of cooperation between the National Security Council and the Prime Minister's Office, hinting that successive prime ministers had marginalized the NSC making its almost inept.

The Shahak committee also recommends the establishment of a national emergency-management team at the Prime Minister's Office as well similar but smaller teams at the Defense and Foreign Ministries, all of which will report to the National Security Council at times of war and crisis.

The report also recommended the Foreign Ministry be more involved in defense decisions pertaining to state affairs.

The Winograd report lamented the lack of cooperation between Olmert and his Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during last summer's conflict.

Under the new proposals, a new law will be passed in the Knesset to define the duties of the NSC head and to avoid his recommendations being ignored by politicians.

Olmert appointed the Shahak committee after the release of the Winograd Commission's interim report nearly two months ago. The Winograd Commission, headed by retired Justice Eliyahu Winograd, criticized Olmert for taking Israel to war hastily and for failing to conceive an exit strategy.

'Most generals unprepared for war'

Meanwhile, a team formed by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee filed a report Tuesday stating that the procedure of appointing generals in the IDF was faulty.

The team, headed by MK Effie Eitam, recommended passing legislation that would regulate the appointment and promotion of generals.

"We found that a large part of the IDF's senior chain of command was unfit for war," Eitam said.

The team slammed the fact that appointment of generals is currently carried out solely by the prime minister and the army chief, "without public oversight or minimal transparency as to the criteria for the promotion of officers."

The team also recommended to form a military academy in Israel, and offered to set up a committee of army officials and academics to formulate a proposal for establishing such an institution.