Peretz: War to yield many awards
Defense minister refers to criticism against himself, defense establishment, says 'we must see cup as half full in terms of war in Lebanon. There were battles which soldiers emerged from as heroes and there will be many awards'
"The State of Israel is now more cautious and realistic. It looks at the developments in Syria and in Iran in open eyes without blinking," Peretz said.
According to the defense minister, "the war exposed weak links in the Israeli society. The national strength is not only composed of military strength but also of social strength. This was a war which provided an opportunity to expose failures and shortcomings and they will be investigated and dealt with. However, it is the army which will regain its composure and provided real-time answers to the failures."
Peretz added that residents of the communities next to the border fence with Lebanon who will spot Lebanese army soldiers on the fence in the coming days instead of Hizbullah fighters will be rewarded for the tough times they went through.
Referring to the criticism directed against him and his conduct, Peretz said that he was exercising the right to remain silence until the work is done, "in spite of the lightning and thunder from all over."
According to Peretz, "the war's outcomes will lead to a change in terms of the north of Israel. We have to prepare and invest as much as we can in order to change our strategy regarding the north. The war's role is to create an opportunity for peace based on mutual trust and the right of both sides to live in dignity, security and peace. This is the aspiration of every citizen in the State of Israel."
Peretz said that "the fighters in the north are the best soldiers in the IDF."
He referred to the claims that the media conveyed a feeling of defeat in the battle: "I thought that we were beaten, and it wasn’t so. We must take into account in the next wars that the media must be recruited to be on our side. It wasn’t on our side in this war."
