Olmert: Lebanon war was unavoidable
Any responsible leader would have made the same decision to go to war in Lebanon, prime minister tells Kadima faction meeting. Cabinet to vote Sunday on new list of Palestinian security prisoners to be released, Olmert says
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended the decision to declare war in Lebanon one year ago as "unavoidable" and "correct", during an address to the Kadima faction Monday.
"Any responsible person facing the reality we faced would have made the same decision the Israeli government made on the 12th of July," Olmert said.
The prime minister expressed his sorrow and condolences over the civilian and military casualties of the Second Lebanon War, and asked to remember them "just as we remember the many hundreds who fell victim to the war on terror over the years."
However, the war created a new strategic reality on the ground, in which there should be fewer victims, the prime minister declared.
Olmert also addressed the expected release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners to boost Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas.
The initial prisoner list was "an insult to the Palestinians," Olmert claimed, noting that he had appointed minister Haim Ramon to make up a new list. The list should be presented in the next few days and the cabinet will vote on it this Sunday.
Olmert, however, did not express optimism that the prisoner release would bring about great change.
"I don't think anyone in the government is fooling himself into thinking that we're on the verge of a dramatic change with the Palestinians, and we certainly take into account that there may be great disappointments – as great as our hopes that there will be change. We don't live in some sort of fantasy that things can change from one day to the next."
Israel, however, must creative positive momentum in its relations with the Palestinians, Olmert said.
