Israel Matzav

Mofaz: Investigate government, not army

Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, who was defense minister in Ariel Sharon's government, and whom current Defense Minister Amir Comrade Peretz has attempted to blame for the IDF's deficient performance in the war, says that it's the government - and not the army - that needs to be investigated.

Up to now, Transport Minister and former defense minister Shaul Mofaz has refrained from criticizing decision makers during the Lebanon war.

On Tuesday evening, during a closed meeting with 40 driving instructors, Mofaz gave vent hit thoughts, and shared the serious critiques he has built up for the past two months.

...

"If we would have hit Hizbullah infrastructures hard, it could have ended in ten days or less, but this did not happen," Mofaz said. "I thought it would be short, strong, so that Hizbullah cry out, 'stop the Israelis – they've gone crazy.'"

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"I said that after the government accepted UN resolution 1701, it should at least declare that our sons be transferred to a third party, that the Red Cross come and visit them. That's also what Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, said when he came here on a visit," Mofaz said.

Addressing the burning issue of a commission of inquiry, Mofaz said the commission "must check the government and the politicians."

"I don't think it needs to check the army," he added.

Smiling with embarrassment when a member of the audience called out, "we didn't have a defense minister in the war," he responded: "I don't want to get into this, because the last time I said something similar, I was publicly attacked."

Mofaz mocked government attempts to market the war as a successful strike on Hizbullah. He said Hizbullah would recover within a year: "I suppose we won't hear from them in the coming year, but could the threat be realized again? The answer is yes."

At this rate, Olmert will soon be left alone on the sinking ship of the government.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:52 AM