Israel sets up committee to investigate its handling of Lebanon
The formation of the committee was a step toward addressing criticism over the handling of the crisis but fell short of meeting growing demands for the creation of an independent commission of inquiry to investigate both the government’s and the military’s performance.
The committee, made up of business executives and retired generals, will be led by a former army chief and will look into the army’s preparedness ahead of the fighting, officials said.
Newspapers and radio shows were filled with outrage over army chief Lieutenant General Dan Halutz’s decision to sell off his stock portfolio just hours before launching Israel’s biggest military operation since its 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Lt Gen Halutz declared himself a victim of malicious reporting, saying he has been turned “into a Shylock.”
The 34-day war, widely seen here as just, had united Israel’s fractured society. Hezbollah was considered a growing threat after it had vastly expanded its arsenal of missiles in recent years.
But the unity crumbled after Israel’s fabled army pulled out of south Lebanon without crushing Hezbollah or rescuing two soldiers whose July 12 capture by the guerillas during a raid in Israel triggered the fighting.
The war began just two months after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Mr Peretz, men with little military experience, took office. Surveys in two major Hebrew-language dailies showed low approval ratings for both.
A poll of 500 people by TNS-Teleseker showed support for Olmert sinking to 40%, having soared to 78% in the first two weeks of the offensive.
Mr Peretz’s approval rating plunged to 28% from 61%, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. A second poll, by the Dahaf Research Institute, showed 57% calling for his resignation.
The Dahaf poll, which had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points, showed 70% opposed to a cease-fire that did not include the return of the captured soldiers, and 69% backing an official inquiry into the war’s prosecution.
Lt Gen Halutz’s wartime decisions did not score him many points with the public: 52% of those polled by TNS and 47% of those surveyed by Dahaf said they were dissatisfied with his handling of the fighting.
Politicians and military commanders called for his resignation after a newspaper reported he sold his stock portfolio just before the fighting began. Halutz has acknowledged selling about $21,800 (€16,979) worth of stocks at noon July 12, three hours after Hezbollah launched the cross-border raid that touched off the war.
He has expressed no regret over the timing of the sale, saying he has finances to manage like any other Israeli.
“They’ve turned me into Shylock,” he told the Yediot Ahronot daily, referring to Shakespeare’s despised Jewish Merchant of Venice.
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