Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Israeli leaders split on war probe

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 2, 2006

JERUSALEM - Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Friday that he would support a sweeping, independent inquiry into Israel's war in Lebanon, a new sign of division in a government facing harsh public criticism for its handling of the conflict.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rebuffed demands for such an investigation, which would have the authority to dismiss top officials. Instead, he appointed a less powerful investigatory commission, drawing heavy criticism across the political spectrum. Olmert said a full-blown inquiry would take too long and paralyze the army.

Breaking with the prime minister, Peretz told a meeting of his Labor Party on Friday that he would support a so-called judicial inquiry fully independent of the government.

"I have reached the conclusion that in order to ensure equal standards for all, in order to ensure the inquiry is transparent, and in order to keep the trust of the public and the inquiry process, it's best that we form an independent commission," Peretz said.

Olmert plans to seek Cabinet approval Wednesday for the panel he appointed. His proposal is expected to pass despite Peretz's opposition.

The dovish Labor Party controls 19 seats in the 120-member Parliament, while Olmert's centrist Kadima has 29. The two parties allied just four months ago around Olmert's plan to withdraw from much of the West Bank and set Israel's final borders with the Palestinians.

But the war with Hezbollah has led Olmert to shelve that plan, leaving the allies with little common ground and raising questions about whether the coalition can last.

Critics have faulted the government for accepting a U.N.-brokered cease-fire without crushing Hezbollah or winning the release of two servicemen held by Hezbollah.

Also Friday...

- The U.N. Human Rights Council appointed a Brazilian diplomat, a Tanzanian judge and a Greek professor to a commission investigating whether Israel committed systematic human rights abuses in Lebanon during the recent fighting.

- Nations at an aid conference in Stockholm promised to send $500-million in aid to the Palestinians, saying the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip turned critical while the world focused on halting a monthlong war in Lebanon.

[Last modified September 2, 2006, 01:20:27]