JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defence Minister Amir Peretz and former army chief Dan Halutz are to blame for the "serious failure" of the Lebanon war, said a government inquiry released on Monday.
"The responsibility is on the prime minister, the defence minister and chief of staff," retired judge Eliahu Winograd said in presenting the interim findings into the handling of last summer`s 34-day war.
Decisions and actions by the three "add up to a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence," he said.
The report said that Olmert made decisions hastily and without proper preparations.
"The prime minister made up his mind hastily, despite the fact that no detailed military plan was submitted to him and without asking for one.
"He made his decisions without systematic consultation with others, especially outside the the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces), despite not having experience in external-political and military affairs.
"In addition, he did not adequately consider political and professional reservations presented to him before the fateful decisions of July 12th" when Hezbollah launched the deadly cross-border raid in which it seized two Israeli soldiers, sparking the war.
"The prime minister is responsible for the fact that the goals of the campaign were not set out clearly and carefully... He made a personal contribution to the fact that the declared goals were over-ambitious and not feasible."
Peretz, meanwhile, "failed in fulfilling his functions."
"He did not ask for the IDF`s operational plans and did not examine them; he did not check the preparedness and fitness of the IDF ...
"His influence on the decisions made was mainly pointillist and operational."
Halutz, who resigned from his post in January becoming the most senior head to roll over the war, was "not prepared for the event of the abduction despite recurring alerts."
"When the abduction happened, he responded impulsively. He did not alert the political leaders to the complexity of the situation."
Halutz "did not alert the political echelon to the serious shortcomings in the preparedness and the fitness of the armed forces for an extensive ground operation, if that became necessary."
The chief of staff`s "responsibility is aggravated by the fact that he knew well that both the prime minister and the minister of defence lacked adequate knowledge and experience in these matters, and by the fact that he had led them to believe that the IDF was ready and prepared and had operational plans fitting the situation.
"The chief of staff failed in his duties as commander in chief of the army and as a critical part of the political-military leadership, and exhibited flaws in professionalism, responsibility and judgment.
04/30/2007 14:47 GMT