By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday defended his decision to go to war with Hezbollah saying it was aimed at eradicating the extremist threat, local media reported.
“There had been a need to eradicate once and for all the threat that hung over hundreds of thousands of people and create a new reality,” Olmert, who was visiting the northern border to mark the anniversary of the war with Hezbollah, said.
“We are still far from achieving our goals. We need to work very hard and we are working very hard,” he said.
Olmert conceded that there had been failures during the 34-day-long war, but that the defence establishment had made every effort to overcome them.
During his visit, Olmert toured Israel Defence Forces (IDF) border outposts, heard IDF commanders’ briefing on the situation in southern Lebanon, and met families of soldiers killed during the war.
Earlier Thursday, Israel’s defence minister during the war, Amir Peretz, told Israel Radio that the war had been Israel’s war of “sobering up.”
According to Peretz, Israel is better prepared for security operations on all its fronts as a result of the war.
The director general of the Prime Minister’s Office, Raanan Dinur, however, said Wednesday that the home front is not fully prepared for war, although it is better organized than it was last year.
The 34-day-long fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on July 12, 2006, following the abduction of two Israeli soldiers by the Shiite group.
The war ended on August 14, 2006 under a UN-brokered resolution. More than 110 Israeli soldiers and over 1,200 Lebanese were killed in the conflict.