By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Winograd Commission probing the conduct of the Second Lebanon War announced on Sunday that it would present its final report on Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Local news website Ynet quoted sources close to the commission as saying that the report “will be harsh and will be presented to the public, so it may decide for itself who should be held responsible for the war’s failures.”
The report will also be presented to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak prior to a final release to the public, according to Ynet.
The committee, chaired by retired Justice Eliyahu Winograd, was formed to investigate the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the political echelon during Israel-Hezbollah conflict in2006 which Israel called the Second Lebanon War.
A preliminary report, issued by the committee in April 2007, contained harsh criticism of Olmert, former Defense Minister Amir Peretz and former IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz.
A week and a half ago, Olmert said that he did not intend to resign regardless of what the committee’s findings entail. He added that he would respond to the report’s findings at appropriate time and place.
On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed several others during a cross-border raid, drawing Israel’s massive strikes.
The 34-day fighting came to an end on August 14 when a UN-brokered ceasefire went into effect.