War or ceasefire? Israeli leaders appear to diverge

JERUSALEM, Aug 13 (Reuters) A UN resolution calling for an end to fighting between Israel and Hizbollah has exposed faultlines in Israel, with some politicians welcoming the move but the army saying it will pursue its offensive nonetheless.

The differing reactions in part reflect the military's desire to register territorial and tactical successes against the Lebanese guerrilla group before the month-long campaign is formally brought to an end by a full ceasefire.

But they also reflect something of the indecisiveness which political commentators and the Israeli public say has shadowed the war and led to calls for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to go.

Israel's top commander, Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, said yesterday he intended to pursue his widening offensive, in which 85 soldiers have been killed, at least until it was clear how the UN resolution was going to be brought into force.

''The fact that a UN resolution was accepted yesterday doesn't apply immediately... We will continue to operate until we achieve our aims,'' Halutz told a briefing.

His comments appeared in contrast to those of Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy prime minister, who, while praising the role the military had played, seemed to suggest that its job was done and that diplomacy was now in the driving seat.

''Without the military pressure we would not have had the diplomatic deal, and without the diplomatic deal there would have been no point to the military action,'' he told Israel radio.

''PURSUE THE WAR'' Israel's cabinet is expected to endorse the UN resolution at a meeting today. At least until then, it appears that the army has a green light to pursue its offensive, which was expanded yesterday to include a push north as far as the Litani River, about 20 km (13 miles) inside Lebanon.

The area from the border to the Litani would then effectively become the buffer zone from which Israeli forces would gradually have to withdraw as a 15,000-strong UN force, most likely led by France, steadily deploys.

UN Middle East envoy Alvaro de Soto told Reuters yesterday the UN force could begin deploying in seven to 10 days, suggesting there is still some time before the ''immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations'', as called for in the resolution, actually comes into force.

Even after that time, Israel could still carry out operations against Hizbollah if it felt threatened, and it could be several more weeks before a permanent ceasefire -- rather than merely a cessation of hostilities -- is brought into force.

While the Israeli army seems intent on using all the time it can get, Olmert appears more tied to the UN resolution. He told US President George W. Bush in a telephone call yesterday that he backed it and would urge his cabinet to approve it when it meets for its weekly session today.

Political commentators have accused Olmert, a rarity among Israeli prime ministers in having only limited military experience, of chopping and changing his approach during the war, leading to doubts about his grip on the tiller.

''If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one day,'' wrote columnist Ari Shavit in the left-of-centre Haaretz paper.

''You cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power.'' Opinion polls show Olmert, who came to office in April, losing popularity rapidly. Israelis living in the north, where they are targeted every day by Hizbollah rockets, want to see results from the war, and worry about vague UN resolutions.

''Until a real ceasefire, the army needs to keep pushing,'' said Marish Banita, a resident of Kiryat Shmona, a town in the north hit daily by rocket fire. ''There is no other choice.'' REUTERS LL KP0850