Who will name last summer's war?

By YAAKOV KATZ
Defense Minister Amir Peretz's decision to set up a committee to choose a name for Israel's Lebanon war this past summer might be seven months too late. Jerusalem Affairs Minister Yaakov Edri has been thinking up a name for the war and plans to convene the Ministerial Committee for Ceremonies and Symbols, of which he is chairman, and bring for approval his recommendation - "Northern Operation." Peretz, who was in Washington, DC on Tuesday for a meeting with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appointed former justice minister David Libai on Monday as head of the search committee assigned the task of finding a name for Israel's second Lebanon war. Other committee members are Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yarom Yair and Maj.-Gen. Yishai Beer, president of the IDF Appeals Court. Peretz's decision to set up the committee followed demands by families of the 119 soldiers that were killed during the 34 days of fighting against Hizbullah over the summer. During the fighting the IDF had called the war "Operation Change of Direction." Edri said that he did not believe Libai's committee would be "competition" to his work and that the former justice minister was welcome to bring his proposal to a meeting of the government committee he chairs scheduled for next week. In a meeting Peretz held recently with bereaved families, the defense minister promised to choose a name by Independence Day. A decision on an official name for the war will also require changes to the tombstones of the soldiers who were killed over the summer. Libai's committee will also choose a war insignia that will be worn on the uniforms of soldiers who fought in Lebanon.