JERUSALEM, 6 March 2007 — Israel’s government watchdog will release today the first report on the state’s conduct during last year’s Lebanon war, putting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the defensive ahead of expected harsh criticism. Although State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss has offered no hint over the contents of his interim report on Israel’s readiness for war, officials believe he will pour scathing criticism on army and government conduct in the years leading up to the July-August war.
The public watchdog report is one of several probes into the government’s and army’s conduct during the 34-day conflict in Lebanon, during which Israel’s north was paralyzed by over 4,000 rockets fired by Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
Several months ago, Olmert charged Lindenstrauss with reviewing the state’s handling of Israel’s home-front, namely civilian protection and rescue services’ performance during times of emergency. Its initial findings, which Lindenstrauss will present before Parliament, may even scrutinize the personal conduct of several key players, including Olmert and the head of the army’s home-front division.
But unprecedented mudslinging between the prime minister and state comptroller ahead of the report’s release, with the increasingly unpopular Olmert firmly on the offensive, offers a possible insight into the importance of the findings.
The prime minister has claimed Lindenstrauss’ decision to release the report before the publication of the broader report into the government’s conduct is nothing more than a politically motivated attack against him. “Unfortunately, in his conduct over the report on the home-front, Lindenstrauss is setting a new level of cynicism, even before the report was handed to the government bodies,” Olmert wrote in a letter to Parliament Speaker Dalia Yitzik.
Lindenstrauss, who is also leading several investigations into Olmert’s allegedly unlawful real estate deals, has also leveled an unprecedented attack against the prime minister in response to Olmert’s comments. “The prime minister is trying to divert the public’s attention from his duty to provide precise and detailed answers to the many questions turned against him in recent months,” he wrote in a letter to the premier.
In another effort to delay the report’s release, the Supreme Court will convene this morning after the commander of the army’s home-front, Yitzhak Gershon, filed a last-minute appeal against the release of Lindenstrauss’ report.
