War probe will point to Olmert, Peretz
Winograd Committee set to release interim report about Lebanon war next month, expected to point to personal responsibilities of Olmert, Peretz, Halutz
The probe into the management of last summer's war would include personal conclusions about the conduct of the prime minister, the defense minister and the army's chief of staff, the Winograd Committee said Tuesday.
The committee, which was tasked with investigating the army's and government's conduct during the war, would release an interim report on its findings in the second half of April and not this month as reported earlier.
A spokesperson for the committee said a section on the decision to go to war against Hizbullah would include "personal conclusions regarding the responsibilities of the prime minister, the defense minister, and the army's chief of staff."
Former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz succumbed to public criticism of the army's poor performance during the war and resigned in January. He was replaced by Gabi Ashkenazi.
Halutz and Olmert discussing the war (Photo: GPO)
"We decided to dedicate a partial report on these issues, because the decisions related to going to war are of special importance," the committee said in a statement.
"We will spare no effort to release the final report as soon as possible. We attach great importance to finishing the job early, especially that the final report will deal with issues of utmost importance --- that need to be understood --- and with identifying problems that need to be fixed," the statement read.
The committee said that a report including classified information would be submitted to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, while a more general report would be made available to the public.
The spokesperson added that the report covered Israel's military and political policy toward Hizbullah during the period that extends from the army's dramatic exit from Lebanon in May 2000 until the end of last summer's war in mid August.
