Israel report blasts Olmert over Lebanon war

updated 2:52 p.m. ET April 30, 2007

JERUSALEM - An Israeli government probe of the summer war in Lebanon said Monday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was responsible for “very severe failures” in the conflict, using harsher-than-expected language that dealt a blow to his efforts to hang on to office.

The long-awaited report said Olmert hastily led the country into conflict against Hezbollah guerrillas without a comprehensive plan, exercised poor judgment and bore ultimate responsibility for a war that Israelis widely fear has emboldened the country’s enemies.

Olmert, who has already faced strident calls for resignation from his political opponents, said the “failures will be remedied” while vowing to remain prime minister.

PM digs in his heels
“It would not be correct to resign, and I have no intention of resigning,” he said in a brief televised statement from his office. Instead, he said, he would work to implement the conclusions of the inquiry, calling a special Cabinet session for Wednesday to begin the work.

Olmert’s hold on office seems steady for now. He controls a large majority in parliament, and his coalition partners are wary of doing anything that could force new elections that opinion polls say would be won by the conservative Likud Party led by hard-line former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, Olmert’s own party could turn on him and pressure him to quit. If that happened, his popular foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, would likely step in to replace him. A big public outcry could add to the pressure, and an anti-Olmert rally was scheduled Thursday.

The report capped a six-month investigation into the war, which has been widely perceived as a failure by the Israeli public. Olmert appointed the five-member investigative panel in September to stave off criticism, but it has no authority to force anyone to resign.

Summer war
The war erupted July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas killed three soldiers and captured two others in a cross-border raid. In 34 days of fighting, Israel failed to retrieve the captured soldiers, destroy Hezbollah or prevent the group from firing thousands of rockets into Israel.

Between 1,035 and 1,191 Lebanese civilians and combatants were killed in the fighting, as were 119 Israeli soldiers and 39 civilians, according to official figures from the two sides.

During the 34-day conflict, the government was criticized for its failure to halt the Hezbollah rocket fire and Israeli soldiers returning from the battle front complained of poor preparations, conflicting orders and shortages of food and supplies.

Olmert has repeatedly called the war a success, claiming Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah and welcoming the U.N.-brokered truce that ended the fighting. The truce forced Hezbollah away from the border and brought thousands of international peacekeepers to the area.

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