The commission appointed by Defense Minister Amir Peretz to inquire upon the state of the IDF before and during the war in Lebanon suspended its operations on Monday only one day after it began its deliberations.
The operations were suspended due to the fact that the decision to create another commission was not yet finalized. If it is decided to create another commission, be it an official or a governmental one, the Shahak Committee will be invalidated as well as any resolution it arrives at.
The issue of whether or not to impose a publication ban on the discussions is also an essential factor in suspending the commission's operations since all of the testimonies that were given may contain many implications.
With no connection to the Shahak Committee, the IDF began its own inquiries regarding the lessons of the war in a way that every department deals with its own relevant issues, and at the end it will get a complete image of the events. The military inquiries are supervised by the deputy chief of staff, Major General Moshe Kaplinski.
Even yesterday when the commission began discussing its order of the day, Major General (res.) Herzl Bodinger announced his resignation from the committee for personal reasons, and Defense Minister Peretz appointed Major General (res.) Giora Rom, former air force deputy commander.
Defense establishment officials told ynet that in a number of days it will be decided which commissions will inquire on the war: "It is important to examine what happened here. It is not a matter of creating a controversy, but a matter of learning lessons. Once the matter is finalized, the commission should do a thorough yet speedy job so that we can all implement the results in preparation for another possible confrontation."
Criticism began early on
Shortly after the publication that Shahak will chair the commission of inquiry, political sources began criticizing the move.
Since Defense Minister Amir Peretz often consulted with Shahak during the fighting, many critics of the commission said it was inappropriate to appoint Shahak to the head of a committee to investigate the Israel Defense Forces' management of the war.
Since he first created the committee, Peretz pointed out that its goal is not to expose failures, but to examine all aspects of the war in order to learn lessons for the future.