Israel awards medals for Lebanon war

Sep 2, 2007, 18:59 GMT

Tel Aviv - Israel's Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi awarded 35 soldiers medals and citations for their service during the war last year with the Shiite militant movement Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Four awards were given posthumously, including to a physician who died in battle. Three other doctors also received decorations for actions during the inconclusive war.

Citations were also given to three units.

The highest military honour, the Medal of Bravery, was not awarded at a ceremony in Tel Aviv which lasted for over two hours.

Minister of Defence Ehud Barak said in a speech that if Israel were attacked, the military would 'bring the victory.'

Referring to criticism of how the war was handled by the political and military echelons, Barak admitted there 'were more than a few failures in this war,' but added that even in Israel's 'more successful wars' there were also failures.

The Winograd Committee, appointed last year by the government of Ehud Olmert to investigate the events of the war, is expected to release its final report next month.

A preliminary report released in April harshly criticized senior officials, including Olmert himself and Amir Peretz, who has since resigned as defence minister.

Former chief of staff Dan Halutz and several other elite military figures have also resigned since the war amid criticism over their performance.

Some 1,200 Lebanese and 159 Israelis were killed in 33 days of combat in July and August 2006, which erupted after Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a July 12 cross-border raid.