Our Views
 

The Commission of Inquiry's Conclusions
by: Moshe Feiglin
Founder and President, Manhigut Yehudit
Elul, 5766 (August, '06)
 

The following are the conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry that will not be established. And if it is established, the parameters of inquiry will not be correctly defined. And if they are defined, it will not have the appropriate authority. And if it does, it will be afraid to speak the truth. And if it does speak the truth, Israel's media and justice system will be sure to delegitimize it. 

1. The Facts

1. With the retreat from Sinai, Menachem Begin sanctified the borders of pre- 1967 Israel. The price was the elimination of the principle of Zionist settlement.
2. With the retreat from Lebanon, Ehud Barak sanctified the borders of pre-1967 Israel. The price was the elimination of the principle of Zionist security.
3. With the retreat from Gush Katif, Ariel Sharon sanctified the borders of pre-1967 Israel. The price was the elimination of both Zionist settlement and security.
4. The Unilateral Withdrawal Principle became the official religion of the State of Israel.
5. On the platform of this principle, the Kadimah party was formed, the Convergence plan was hatched and Ehud Olmert became Prime Minister.
6. It soon became apparent that from the borders of withdrawal, the IDF cannot even defend the lives of its own soldiers.
7. The abduction of the soldiers threatened the Withdrawal and Convergence concept – the horse upon which Olmert rode to the premiership.
8. That is why Olmert hurried out to war. This was a war to prove Israel's ability to defend itself after unilateral withdrawal. In short, it was a war to save the Convergence plan. That is why the Left supported the war even more than the Right.
9. Olmert turned to the arrogant Chief of Staff, who convinced him that it was possible to triumph from the air.
10. But the Hizbollah was not playing their game, and began to shoot rockets into Israel's north.
11. It took the Chief of Staff two weeks of rockets falling into Israel's cities to internalize what an army cadet learns early in training school – winning means conquering territory.
12. But conquering territory contradicts the principle of Withdrawal and Convergence upon which a new generation of army commanders was educated.
13. This produced confusion in the IDF’s orders to its fighting forces. Enter Lebanon but leave, conquer but retreat, fight but don't win.
14. The result: 156 casualties, the abducted soldiers remain in captivity, more rockets fired into Israel at the end of the war than at the beginning, Hizbollah stronger than ever, Israel's deterrence factor shattered and the threat of Israel's destruction more tangible than ever.

2. Conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry

1. The war was not fought to protect northern Israel from the Hizbollah's rockets. On the contrary, the war is what caused them to be fired.
2. The goal of the war was patently political – to defend the concept of unilateral withdrawal, the Convergence plan and Olmert's government.
3. If Israel's entire political and military elite that was involved in any way with unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and Gush Katif is not immediately replaced, Israel's existence is gravely endangered.