Hizbullah: Winograd Report Confirms IDF Defeated in Lebanon

Ynet News

A critical Israeli report on the 2006 war in Lebanon confirms that the Jewish state suffered a blistering defeat at the hands of Hizbullah, a spokesman for the militant group told AFP on Wednesday.

"The report confirms what Hizbullah was saying all along: Israel failed completely in achieving its goals and the Israeli army suffered a military defeat at the hands of Hezbollah," spokesman Hussein Rahal said.

"Lebanon managed, despite all its losses, to come out victorious and defeat Israel," he said.

Released Wednesday, the Winograd Commission's final report on Israel's conduct during the Lebanon campaign said, "We found serious failings and flaws in the quality of preparedness, decision-making and performance in the IDF high command, particularly within the ground forces.

"The overall image of the war was a result of a mixture of flawed conduct of the political and military leadership ... of flawed performance by the military, especially the ground forces, and of deficient Israeli preparedness,'' the report said.

After emerging relatively unscathed from the report, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a statement saying he had "complete faith in the IDF, in its commander, in its soldiers and in its abilities."

According to the prime minister, the Israeli army "continues and will continue to train, improve, grow stronger and be prepared for any challenge and mission".