JERUSALEM - The head of the panel investigating Israel's 2006 Lebanon conflict said Wednesday that the war ended without victory and the army did not provide an effective response to Hezbollah rocket fire.
Eliyahu Winograd, issuing the panel's final report, told a packed auditorium in Jerusalem investigators found "failures and shortcomings" in the country's political and military leadership during the conflict.
He also said a last-minute ground offensive in Lebanon failed because it did not improve Israel's position ahead of a cease-fire and added the army was not prepared for that battle.
More than 30 Israeli soldiers were killed in that offensive launched shortly before a U.N.-brokered truce went into effect. Olmert had come under severe criticism for ordering the battle, despite his contention that the offensive improved Israel's position before the cease-fire.
