Public airing of Israel's failings a sign of strength

With a small population, narrow borders, and nearby enemy nations and terrorist entities calling for its eradication, Israel has always depended on a policy of forceful deterrence. In effect, its enemies must know that an attack will result in a punishing counter-attack. Occasionally, deterrence means preemptive action, such as Israel's destruction of Egypt's air force in the 1967 Six Day War or Iraq's nuclear reactor plant in 1981.

As Eran Lerman, a colonel in Israeli Military Intelligence (reserves) and director of the American Jewish Committee's Israel office once put it: "Until the happy day when the Middle East becomes like the Midwest…Israeli society needs to know that the murderers of our children, and those who shelter the murderers and gloat at their 'achievements' cannot stay outside the orbit of Israel's long arm."

So why, if a nation seeks to project an image of strength to deter hostile actions, would it issue a public report highly critical of the army and political leadership? Because in a democratic society like Israel, the people demanded an accounting of what happened in Lebanon after Hezbollah militants crossed Israel's border, killed three soldiers and abducted two others who haven't been heard from since. The 34-day war cost the lives of 109 Israeli soldiers and 40 civilians, and failed to reach the declared goal of stopping Hezbollah missile attacks and recovering the two kidnapped soldiers.

The 629-page report, the product of an investigative committee into the lessons of the Lebanon war headed by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, was anxiously anticipated. Particularly intriguing was whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would be forced to resign in its wake. The war's outcome earlier forced out two top leaders, the Minister of Defense and the Army Chief of Staff.

The report is certainly a blow to a country used to victory on the battlefield. It stated that a "semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages. The barrage of rockets aimed at Israel's civilian population lasted throughout the war, and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it. The fabric of life under fire was seriously disrupted, and many civilians either left their home temporarily or spent their time in shelters…These facts had far-reaching implications for us, as well as for our enemies, our neighbors, and our friends in the region and around the world."

Israel knew that broadcasting its failings so publicly would provide its enemies with an easy propaganda victory. One Hezbollah official said the report "precisely proved that the Zionist regime's armed forces failed in achieving all their defined objectives and were humiliated in their confrontation with the Lebanese resistance forces."

Still, confronting the problem head-on is not a sign of Israeli weakness, but of its strength. It demonstrates a society with a commitment to truth, to openness, to learning from one's mistakes in order to correct them.

We can never bring back the lives lost in that war, and we must not forget about the two soldiers still in Hezbollah captivity. But repairing what was discovered to be broken will only make us stronger.