Israel braces for war report

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By Stan Goodenough
January 30, 2008

After months of media speculation, days of discussion and columns of commentary, the final report of the Winograd Commission on mistakes made in the prosecution of the 2006 Second Lebanon War will be released Wednesday evening Israel time.

Unlike the inquiry's interim report, released last April, the details made public on January 30 are not expected to shock Israelis, who have been saturated with information, including leaked details of its contents, every day since at least the start of the new year.

The interim report assigned responsibility for the major failures in the war to former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Halutz and Peretz no longer hold their positions: The former resigned last January - before the interim report was released - and the latter handed in his notice a few weeks after its release, after he had already been ousted from his position as Labor Party leader by former Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Olmert, however, retained his position despite a flood of criticism and numerous calls for his resignation.

While there was a lot of speculation back then that Winograd's final report would force the prime minister to step down, this is no longer anticipated.

Although the findings are expected to be harsh, no recommendations for personal sanctions are reportedly in the works.

One-hundred-and-forty-four Israeli soldiers and 44 Israeli civilians were killed in the Second Lebanon War.

Despite the high cost, Israel's goals - primarily to secure the release of kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev - were not realized.

Hizb'allah is widely acknowledged by Israel's friends and foes alike to have won that war.

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