Israeli reserve soldiers are angry at what they see as confusion at highest levels of the government and military, writes Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem
Israeli reserve soldiers, incensed by what they view as the gross mismanagement of the military's offensive against Hizbullah in Lebanon, stepped up the pressure on the political and military leadership yesterday. One group of reservists called for a formal inquiry into how the war was conducted and another group marched to Jerusalem to demand the resignation of the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and the defence minister, Amir Peretz.
Accusing the political and military leadership of "indecisiveness" and of having created a "crisis of confidence between us as fighters and the higher echelons", hundreds of reservists signed a letter calling for a state commission of inquiry, like those set up in Israel after the 1973 and 1982 wars, with the power to recommend the dismissal of officials.
As reserve soldiers, many of whom left wives, children and jobs to fight in Lebanon, have returned from the battlefield, they have begun telling stories about the lack of food and water, about outdated maps, and the absence of other basic equipment. Stories have begun emerging of troops, having run out of food and water, breaking into local stores to find something to eat and drink.
But, most tellingly, the reservists have been angered by what they see as confusion at the highest levels of the government and military, which was reflected in constantly changing orders on the battlefield. Lior Dimez, who joined the march to Jerusalem, related yesterday how orders to his unit, which had reached a village with some eight to 10 Hizbullah fighters on the outskirts of Tyre in south Lebanon, "changed four or five times in the space of two or three hours".
"First we were told we would be going into the village without opening fire," he said. "Then we were told we were going in firing. Then, that we were to wait for the artillery to arrive. Then to wait until the airforce arrived." In the end, he said, his unit took up positions in the surrounding hills, with Hizbullah-fired mortar shells dropping around them. Twenty soldiers, he said, suffered dehydration.
"The indecisiveness manifested itself in inaction, in not carrying out operational plans, and in cancelling all the missions we were given during the fighting," the reservists wrote in a letter addressed to Mr Peretz and army chief Lt Gen Dan Halutz. "This led to prolonged stays in hostile territory, without an operational purpose and out of unprofessional considerations, without seeking to engage in combat with the enemy . . . To us the indecisiveness expressed deep disrespect for our willingness to join the ranks and fight and made us feel as though we had been spat on."
While the criticism has been expressed largely by lower-ranking troops in the field, Brig Gen Yossi Hayman, the army's outgoing chief infantry and paratrooper officer, became the first senior officer to openly voice self-criticism. Speaking on Sunday, he said that "despite heroic fighting by the soldiers and commanders, especially at the company and battalion level, we all feel a certain sense of failure and missed opportunity . . . At times, we were guilty of the sin of arrogance." Families of soldiers who were killed in the fighting - more than 100 Israeli troops died in the conflict - have also begun speaking out in the last few days. Some have called for Mr Olmert's resignation while others have said their sons died for nothing.
After Israel was caught off guard when the Egyptian army attacked in October 1973 (the Israeli military later launched an effective counter-offensive), a state commission of inquiry set up to investigate the war placed responsibility on the military echelon. But rather than calming public criticism, the report issued by the commission enraged Israelis who viewed its exoneration of the political leadership as outrageous.
Although Mr Olmert said on Sunday that he had spoken to the attorney general about a mechanism to inquire into the war, many Israelis feel he is trying to avert a full commission of inquiry with powers to recommend the dismissal of officials. "We don't have a lot of time to talk about what happened," Mr Olmert said yesterday during a tour of areas in northern Israel that were hit by rockets in the month-long conflict. "We have to talk about what will happen."