"Israeli" Gen: Halutz Refused to Listen During War

Source: Al-Manar, 02-02-2008
Former "Israeli" army Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz refused to listen - or did not hear - the call of several General Staff top commanders who advised on a wide-scale ground assault during the Second Lebanon War, General Udi Shani told "Israel" Radio Friday. Shani, who has written the General Staff report chronicling the war during the 2006 "Israeli" war against Lebanon, told the radio station that Halutz came to the General Staff's war-room only once during the entire war, on the day Hizbullah had captured the two "Israeli" soldiers.
According to a top "Israeli" general speaking to "Israeli" channel 10, the "Israeli" war against Lebanon was premeditated and had been prepared for months before launching it. Eyal Ben-Reuven was the second in command of the northern region during the war, he said: "Yes, there had been plans. One of these plans was dubbed (Uppermost Waters). It was based on a plan which I personally made years before the war. We trained on it and just before the war were in the process of renovating it."
Shani added that members of the general staff did not convene in the war-room during the fighting. He said that overall, General Staff convened rarely during the war, and opined that this had implications not only for the performance of the General Staff but also on other fields.
The final Winograd report blamed the military echelon more than the political ranks for the defeat of the Middle East "mightiest army" by a small quasi-military organization.