MIDDLE EAST:Preparations for Israel's war in Lebanon last summer were drawn up at least four months before two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hizbullah in July, Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, has admitted.
His submission to a commission of inquiry, leaked yesterday, contradicted the impression at the time that Israel was provoked into a battle for which it was ill-prepared. Mr Olmert told the Winograd commission, a panel of judges charged with investigating Israel's perceived defeat in the 34-day war, that he first discussed the possibility of war in January and asked to see military plans in March.
According to the Ha'aretz daily, which obtained details of Mr Olmert's testimony, the prime minister chose a plan featuring air attacks on Lebanon and a limited ground operation that would be implemented following a Hizbullah abduction. Hizbullah had made several attempts to capture Israeli soldiers on the border since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.
Israeli commentators believed that Mr Olmert and Amir Peretz, the defence minister, took the opportunity of the kidnapping to show they could manage a war in spite of their limited military experience. But the outcome seemed to highlight their lack of experience and also deficiencies in Israel's military planning.
The commission's interim report is expected to be delivered by the end of the month. It was appointed by the government but if it were critical of Mr Olmert, it would be unlikely he could continue in office.
Political analyst Shmuel Sandler said it seemed that people close to Mr Olmert had leaked his submission, made on February 1st, to try to increase his popularity. In an opinion poll published this week, only 3 per cent of Israeli voters said they would back Mr Olmert in an election, while 72 per cent said he should resign.
Zalman Shoval of the Likud party said Mr Olmert's testimony cast his decisions in a worse light than before. "If he had prepared plans, then to any objective commentator this makes the situation worse," he said. "Why were the plans not carried out? It all also places a darker complexion on his decision to expand ground operations which led to the loss of 33 more Israeli lives."
After that final offensive, the government agreed a ceasefire without having achieved its objectives. In the fighting 1,200 Lebanese and 158 Israelis were killed. Of the dead almost 1,000 Lebanese and 41 Israelis were civilians.
Mr Olmert told the committee that he had ordered the final offensive to put pressure on the UN Security Council to improve the wording of the ceasefire in Israel's favour. - ( Guardian service)