MIDDLE EAST:A report into the Israeli government's handling of the war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, yesterday cleared prime minister Ehud Olmert of one of the main charges against him. However, it was harshly critical of Israel's political and army leaders, saying they were responsible for "grave failures" in how they conducted the military campaign.
While the report was highly critical of the prime minister, he and his advisers were quick to emphasise the sections that justified his actions, as the political battle around the report moved into high gear with its publication. All eyes, though, are on defence minister and Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, who pledged last year that if Mr Olmert did not resign with the publication of the report, he would either work to replace him or bring about early elections.
Mr Barak, however, refused to respond in the immediate aftermath of its publication.
Mr Olmert will be particularly relieved with the panel's determination that his decision to launch a full-scale ground assault in the final hours of the war, even as a ceasefire was being finalised in the UN, was "almost essential". Critics of the prime minister, as well as parents of soldiers killed in the military campaign, had accused him of launching that final push in a cynical, last-minute attempt to put a rosy gloss on a failed campaign.
Thirty-three soldiers were killed in the final ground offensive in south Lebanon, which the prime minister has argued was essential to improve the conditions of the ceasefire and ensure it was implemented.
"The decision to actually launch the ground operation was within the framework of decision-makers' political and professional judgment based on the information they had available," the head of the panel, retired justice Eliyahu Winograd told reporters at a press conference in Jerusalem. "The objectives of the military push were legitimate. We are persuaded that both the prime minister and the defence minister operated out of a strong and honest assessment and understanding of what, to them, was seen as necessary for Israel's interests," he continued. The panel does point out, however, that the ground operation "did not achieve any military objectives".
The report is scathing in its criticism of the way in which Israel's political and military leaders managed the month-long campaign, which Mr Olmert launched after Hizbullah militants abducted two Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon.
"The manner in which the original decision to go to war was made, without discussing the alternatives, and the manner in which Israel embarked on the war prior to determining which of the alternatives it had chosen, or an exit strategy - these were severe failures that impacted the entire war, which were contributed to by both the political and the military echelon," the justice said.
The report also points to the "absence of strategic thinking", both on the political and military level, determining that Israel was "dragged" into an expansive ground operation and concluding "Israel did not win the war". What's more, it determines that, for weeks, there was "no proper discussion or decision on the war's objectives".
The panel was particularly harsh in its criticism of the military: "Hizbullah rocket fire on the Israeli home front continued throughout the war, and the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] failed to provide an effective response," said Justice Winograd. The panel, he added, had found "grave faults and failings in the senior military command echelon, particularly in the ground forces, the quality of preparedness and readiness of the forces, and of the execution of orders".
The report does point to what it considers to be several achievements as a result of the war, specifically UN resolution 1701, which outlined the terms of the ceasefire.
It does not draw any personal conclusions (this was not part of its mandate), saying only that the fact it did not apportion personal blame does not mean it does not exist.
In the coming days the focus will be less on the report and more on the political firestorm it has unleashed. Even before it was published, Mr Olmert had said he would not quit as a result of the findings. The fact that the report was not unequivocal in its criticism of him may well ensure that the prime minister remains in office longer than many have predicted in recent weeks. Not surprisingly, members of the opposition Likud party called on the prime minister to resign as a result of the report's findings.
"This is the most severe report in the state's [ history]," said Likud lawmaker Yuval Steinitz. "It says the prime minister conducted a war in a failed, negligent, and amateur manner like never before."
Attention is now focused on Mr Barak, whose associates were quoted last night as saying he would not respond until after the weekend. The mixed nature of the report, though, could provide him with justification for remaining in government.
With the leader of the hawkish Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu, holding a healthy lead in opinion polls, the Labor Party leader is in no rush to precipitate an early election, which would be the result of his withdrawal from the ruling coalition.