In July of last year (2006) Israel had declared war on Lebanon and Hezbollah in response to the killing and abduction of Israeli Defence Force Soldiers on Israeli territory. The aims of the war were to secure the return of the 2 Israeli soldiers abducted by Hezbollah and to crush the Hezbollah movement within Lebanon whom had been a great source of grievence for the Israeli's since their creation as a liberation movement in the first Lebanon war of 1982 to oust the Israeli's and their occupation of southern Lebanon. A goal they eventually succeeded in achieving when Israel was forced to pull out as a result of wavering public support and the ever rising casualties of it's froces caused by the guerilla attacks of Hezbollah. The war ultimatley failed on both fronts (The 2006 Lebanon war.) and despite having popular public support at it's inception had come up against deep opposition from the Israeli people, it's government and the international community by its end.
By the conflicts conclusion in August the 2 abducted soldiers had not been returned and to date are still the subject of ongoing negotiations between Hezbollah and Israel, although doubts have been raised as to whether the 2 men are in fact still alive after having been reported that the 2 were seriously injured during the raid that also killed 3 other IDF soldiers. The conflict also had the unexpected and adverse effect of making Hezbollah more powerful and influential than they were prior to the war despite the large number of casualties inflicted on them. The brutal and controversial tactics used by Israel during the conflct ended up rallying the Lebanese people behind Hezbollah's cause resulting in a huge surge in popularity after the war. The conflict had propelled the group who had only minority support before the war into a widely supported and legitimized organisation in its aftermath. The conflict also attracted a great deal of criticism of Israel's actions even going as far as accusations of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.. By the conflicts end Israel had failed in all it's proposed objectives , had caused over a thousand civillian deaths, over 150 deaths in it's own military forces as well as a small number of casualties in it's own civillian population as a result of Hezbollah's retalliation attacks and had in the process strengthened rather than weakened its enemy. In short the war was a resounding failure.
In the wake of the war there were strong calls for the resignation and removal of Ehud Olmert from his post as Prime Minister. To placate the baying masses and his denouncers he commisioned a report of inquiry into war to establish it's errors and where it's blame lay. The preliminary reports of that commission, the Winograd commission were released at the end of April and reignited and intensified Olmerts opposition. The report found that Olmert himself along with strong criticisms of Minister of Defence Amir Peretz and Chief of Staff Dan Halutz had been responsible for the wars massive failure caused by it's hasty initiation and lack of prior military planning. Although Olmert has vowed that he will not step down from his role as PM his ever mounting opposition puts his future in doubt. It is perhaps only a matter of time before Olmert announces his resignation or is forced out through a no confidence vote from the Knesset. And so arises the question of who will replace him and his position. Tzipi Livni the second in command of the Kadima party stands a good chance of succeeding him in his role but hinges entirely on her ability to hold the current coalition government together in the wake of the controversies. Benjamin Netanyahu also stands a good chance along with his old rival Shimon Peres should he decide to give up on his bid for President in favour of running for Prime Minister. With the fragmented state of the current Knesset and with people like Avigdor Lieberman looming in the background the outcome of the next election whenever it may be could not only prove to be hotly contested and highly unpredictable but could also have a drastic effect on the course Israel will take in the near future.
Indeed the Winograd commission reports are big news in Israel. Exposing the fallibility of the Israeli leadership and it's military and possibly enacting a great change in the Middle East's regional politics central to so many people's interests in the world right now. But what's interesting about this turn of events is how so much of it has been overshadowed and forgotten about in western media thanks to a 6ft tall furry talking mouse called Farfour. Farfour garnered front page spots and massive media attention last week by dispensing radical Islamic rhetoric to children on Palestinian Al-Aqsa TV, a station run by Hamas.. Farfour who bares a not entirely dissimilar resemblance to a certain Disney mascot named Mickey fired up age old controversies over accusations of incitement of violence and the nurturing of political radicalism through media and the influencing of children. The show following it's controversial coverage was promptly pulled from the airwaves for violating Palestinian broadcasting laws. But with the huge coverage that Farfour received along with it's convenient timing you have to wonder if the issue wasn't perhaps blown out of proportion somewhat. Especially when compared with the far more important issue of the political uproar going on in Israel. Not that incitement should be ignored or downplayed especially when it exploits young children but is this really front page news? Is the Winograd report and the huge waves of controversy it caused which has gained fairly minimal media reportage really a far less significant issue? Although I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories Israel is renowned for it's extremely effective PR and while it may not have succeeded in distracting people's attention within Israel it has done a pretty good job of taking the heat off Israel and it's internal self criticisms of misconduct during a war that resulted in over a thousand civillian deaths and refocusing and pointing the media's spotlight elsewhere.
Just a week after the release of the Winograd commission report and amidst the massive ongoing political turmoil in Israel it is almost impossible to find any trace of it's discussion in the media. Meanwhile disuccion of Farfour the Jihadist mouse can still be heard reveberating loudly around our ears. A textbook case of the strength and effectiveness of Israeli PR and gullible and easily distracted attentions of the public. Unfortunatley Islamic radicalism is the order of the day and will always take precedence over criticism of our democratic allies no matter how disproportionate it's importance and significance is. Shock value and the towing of the government line and status quo win out over reporting of genuinely far more important matters.
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