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| By israelinsider staff April 22, 2007 |
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In two separate interviews leading up to Israel's Independence Day, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed his belief that "all the fundamental decisions we made during the fighting in Lebanon were right decisions." The two interviews were with Israel Radio and Army Radio.
Olmert admitted, "There is no doubt that failures and faults which need fixing have been revealed. We are lucky that they were revealed under the circumstances they were revealed and during those incidents.
"I have no doubt that if it were not for the fighting in summer 2006, when we would have discovered those failures and faults we would have been forced to pay an extremely heavy price for them."
He added, "The wise thing to do is to draw conclusions from failures and to study then courageously and honestly. Not to deal all day with self-lashing, mutual spite, personal rivalry and politicization of the defense systems."
Olmert emphasized the fact that his government was unified and unanimously approved the decision to go to war in Lebanon. In the Army Radio interview, Olmert said that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was completely involved in the debates which took place before and during the war, and that "her stance was determined and was definitely identical to that of the other ministers."
Olmert remained steadfast on his view that, "The main goal we wanted to achieve in the Second Lebanon War was achieved, and that was changing the equation. It was indeed for a heavy price and under difficult circumstances, but we will draw the lessons, fix the mistakes and prepare in a better way. But the equation has indeed changed."
On the topic of the kidnapped soldiers, Olmert said that "from the first moment during the war, it was clear to us that the ability to bring them back would be very complex and complicated.
"From the beginning it was clear that this must be one of our goals, but even when we said it, it was clear that it didn't mean that we had a definite chance of achieving it through a military move."
The Prime Minister also spoke optimistically about Iran, saying, "I believe there is a possibility, even without a military operation, to cause Iran not to be nuclear. From time to time I hear statements made by the Iranian leaders, and I am telling you that Iran is far from crossing the technological threshold.
"Unfortunately, it is not as far as I would want it to be, but it is not as close as it says it is. And I believe that the continuation of the international efforts, which Israel is part of, will achieve the goal, and there is no need to get caught up in apocalyptic predictions which have no basis in reality," he said.
Olmert concluded the interviews with a message to Israel.
"I think about the State of Israel of 2007 and I see before me an incredibly strong state with economic achievements. I see less families living in poverty. I see more and more people who are being given a chance by the state to be socially rehabilitated. We are exerting great efforts to improve the social situation, the distress of parts of the population.
"Israel has a reason to be proud. Israeli citizens have a reason to stand high and look forward in hope. I am motivated by the great belief that our state is wonderful, that its residents love it and are willing to fight for its safety. I want to tell all the people of Israel: let's embrace each other again with a lot of love and respect." |
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