Olmert investigated, testifies that Israel won the Lebanon war

Thursday February 01, 2007 10:16 by Polly Bangoriad - IMEMC & Agencies

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was brought before the Winograd Committee investigating the second Lebanon war. Despite a chorus of public criticism of the country's leadership, Olmert is expected to defend his role in the war and tell the committee that Israel emerged victorious.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was brought before the Winograd Committee investigating the second Lebanon war. Despite a chorus of public criticism of the country's leadership, Olmert is expected to defend his role in the war and tell the committee that Israel emerged victorious.

Olmert is the latest in a string of about 70 senior political and military officials to testify before the commission, which was set up in September and is headed by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd.

The commisson was instigated amid raging public criticism of Olmert in the wake of the 34-day war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The war failed to achieve it's main objectives if freeing two Israeli soldiers and stopping Hezbollah rocket fire, and caused over 1000 Lebanese civilian fatalities.

Olmert is expected to be questioned over a number of decisions he made beforeand during the war in Lebanon.

Firstly, it is expected that he will be questioned over the decision to go to war on July 12. The committee will ask him about the information he had before making that decision, and what his expectations of the war were. He is expected to be asked to explain what his aims were in committing to such a war, and how he described these aims to the Israeli Army.

Olmert will also be questioned about his decision to ignore the discussions of a draft resolution on a cease-fire and embark on a major ground offensive during the final days of the war.   

The Israeli Prime Minister's ratings are falling dramatically in the wake of a series of corruption scandals involving him and senior members of his government. If the commission finds him directly responsible for the perceived failures of the war in Lebanon, this will be the latest blow for a very fragile coalition.

An interim report on the Winograd panel's conclusions is not expected to be published before mid-March.  

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