Dichter: I was given wrong impression of IDF's capabilities

In his Winograd testimony, public security minister says he thought Lebanon war would only last a few days.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said that Defense Minister Amir Peretz and former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz had given him the impression that Israel's capabilities could cause major damage to Hizbullah missiles within a mere few days. In his Winograd Committee testimony, Dichter went on to say that he had been opposed to the first air strike on the Dahia neighborhood in Beirut due to the problematic timing, claiming that the attack had caused an escalation in the fighting. "I thought that the blow to Hizbullah would be very powerful, and that it would diminished its military responses", Dichter said, explaining why he had been of the opinion that the Lebanon campaign would only last a few days. According to Dichter, Israel's main accomplishment was UN Security Council resolution 1701. However, the public security minister did not know how it would be implemented in the future, and said that the resolution required a restructuring. "I hope that, after the campaign this achievement will be a de facto achievement in Lebanon and will not just remain on paper," He said. "The proof [that it is possible] is…Jordan…where we accomplished something without going to war, which means that there is more than one possible option in the Middle East". Dichter said that "one should remember that the first week [of the war] gave no indication of where the campaign was headed, and it could be that [the army hoped] -that the campaign was heading in a more positive direction, of Israel inflicting a mortal wound on Hizbullah," Dichter said. "I am not sure that they really read the map as it was happening."