Winograd Commission
The conditions of, and access to, shelters were often substandard and government assistance to northern Israelis in transportation and accommodations in central and southern Israel was highly lacking.
Government inaction caused the weakest segments of Israeli society in affected areas to suffer the worst of the day-to-day privations.
[14] Many Israeli commanders and troops were ill-prepared and ill-trained to meet the combat conditions, in particular, with respect to Hezbollah's use of portable antitank weapons, such as the 9К115-2 Metis-M.
Unlike in Gaza and the West Bank, troops inside armor,[15] or taking shelter in houses, became highly vulnerable to these weapons, which led to the majority of Israeli military casualties in the war.
On 28 August, Olmert announced the creation of a governmental inspection probe led by former director of Mossad Nahum Admoni; it became the prototype for the Winograd Commission.
A military inspection probe, led by former Chief of Staff, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak which on 22 August ceased work after five days of operations due to increasing public dissatisfaction and calls for a state commission, was also set to be renewed.
[21] During its first week, the commission somewhat controversially engaged in preliminary meetings with top decision makers (including Olmert) who were later to be summoned as witnesses.
On 2 November, it began hearing testimonies from witnesses, beginning with the head of the Israel National Emergency Economic Authority, Brigadier-General (res.)
[22] On 4 November, it met in a closed session to hear testimonies by outgoing head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence Amos Yadlin.
On 7 November, the commission heard testimonies from Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and from Director-general of the Ministry of Defense Gabi Ashkenazi.
The leaked copy reportedly criticized Olmert for having no "organized plan" in launching the war and called his move "misguided and rash judgment".
The commission noted that "from the first few days of the war it prepared the diplomatic ground that led to Security Council Resolution 1701 that brought a cease-fire.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu called for Olmert to resign, but Kadima MPs supported the prime minister and a vote of no-confidence was not held.
The war had ended without clear military victory, a much smaller para-military organization successfully resisted against a much larger force which had complete air superiority among other technological advantages.
The staff work done in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the adoption of a favorable resolution in the Security Council was, in the main, quick, systematic and efficient.
Commission members as of 18 September 2006, include: Dutch-Israeli military historian and author Martin van Creveld criticized some of Winograd's findings.
He argued that Hezbollah "had the fight knocked out of it," lost hundreds of its members and that the organization was "thrown out of South Lebanon," replaced by "a fairly robust United Nations peacekeeping force."
