"Israel" navy chief quits over flop

Source: Alalam.ir, 27-7-2007
Al Qods--The "Israeli" navy commander has resigned his post over failures during last summer`s invasion of Lebanon, senior security officials say.
Admiral David Ben Bashat submitted a letter of resignation on Thursday, terminating his tenure as the occupation regime`s navy chief.
Bashat`s resignation comes in the wake of severe criticism of navy failures during the invasion, which "Israel" calls the second Lebanon war.
Bashat is just the latest high ranking "Israeli" to step down after the inconclusive invasion, in which Hizbullah fired almost 4,000 rockets at northern Zionist targets despite a full-scale invasion of "Israeli" ground, sea and air forces.
During the invasion, the occupying regime failed to achieve its stated aim of freeing two "Israeli" soldiers captured by Hizbullah.
The Lebanese national resistance movement also killed 117 "Israeli" soldiers, dealing a crushing blow to the "Israeli" military`s myth of invincibility.
War minister Amir Peretz, the army chief of staff during the conflict, Dan Halutz, and an area military commander resigned earlier.
The outgoing commander of the naval commando sent a harsh letter to Bashat several months after the end of the war, in which he expressed his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the navy`s top echelon during last summer`s invasion.
Bashat served as the commander of the occupying regime`s navy for three years.
The war also cost the regime`s prime minister Ehud Olmert most of his public support, and he faces pressure to step down.
A regime inquiry`s preliminary report on April 30 heaped scathing criticism on all three senior officials but directed its sharpest barbs at Olmert, blaming him for hasty decisions and failure to set out attainable objectives.
The navy`s main failure during the war was a Hizbullah missile attack on a navy missile boat that killed four sailors.
It emerged that since "Israel" did not believe Hizbullah had weapons to attack its ships and the navy did not activate the on-board anti-missile system.
The inquiry commission is expected to present its final report by early next year, and the incident with the missile boat is likely to be considered, with harsh conclusions about the navy command.
The security officials said Ben Bashat would stay on until a new commander is ready to replace him, probably by October.
Ben Bashat, 53, worked his way up through the ranks of the navy after joining in 1969.
He served as war attache in Singapore and graduated from the Newport Naval War College, according to his official biography.