Olmert to face Israeli parliament after ceasefire

JERUSALEM, Aug 14: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, facing a backlash over his handling of the Lebanon war, will address parliament today to begin a fight for political survival hours after a UN-brokered truce took effect.

He is expected to speak at a Knesset special session, set to convene at 1300 GMT, to explain his government's acceptance of a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas that began earlier in the day.

Amid growing criticism of Olmert's war strategy, lawmakers outside his centrist government, which was elected in March and includes 67 out of 120 legislators, will likely ensure the prime minister does not go unchallenged.

''The hour of reckoning,'' read the headline of Israel's Maariv newspaper today, ahead of a ceasefire that took effect at 1030 hrs.

Israeli left-wingers and rightists alike are expected to confront Olmert, having found common ground in recent weeks for their complaints about heavy Israeli casualties and inadequate military preparation in the month-long Lebanon offensive.

Some critics have urged Olmert to call early elections. The next national ballot is not due until 2010.

Cabinet ministers tried to rebuff calls for official investigations into Israeli political and military decisions during the offensive, the Jewish state's deadliest against Hizbollah since it withdrew from Lebanon in 2000.

''We did not fail in this war,'' Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told Army Radio. ''The capabilities of (Hizbollah's) long-range rockets have been minimised almost to zero.'' Except for Israel's ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, Israel suffered heavier civilian casualties than in any war since the war at the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.

Around 1,100 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 156 Israelis, including 116 soldiers, have been killed in the war, which was triggered when Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

Support for Olmert's performance in the war had decreased from more than 75 per cent at the start of the offensive to 48 per cent on August. 11, Israeli media polls showed.

Reuters