Israel PM faces tough choices on Lebanon war probe

Ahead of the government's weekly meeting on Sunday, the increasingly unpopular premier huddled with top aides late into the night, weighing the options between a state commission and a government inquiry.

The premier "held consultations over the nature of the commission that will be charged with investigating the failures during the campaign against Hezbollah," government spokesman Avi Pazner told AFP.

No decision on an inquiry was announced at the end of the cabinet meeting.

"No decision has been made yet on what kind of commission will be appointed to investigate the war -- state or governmental," the Maariv daily quoted a close Olmert aide as saying.

Last Thursday, Olmert's spokeswoman said the premier would make his decision within days and indicated he preferred a government inquiry.

A state commission is Israel's most powerful type of public inquiry, with its members chosen by the Supreme Court and the authority to subpoena witnesses and order the police to conduct searches in order to collect evidence.

A government inquiry is appointed by the premier himself, giving him more control over its work.

Following the month-long offensive against Hezbollah, which left 160 Israelis dead but failed to destroy the Shiite militant group or stop it from firing rockets into northern Israel, public pressure has been growing for Olmert to establish a state commission.

At least 57 percent of Israelis favour such an inquiry, Mina Tzemach, the chief of the respected Dahaf polling agency, told army radio.

"Israelis do not want heads to roll, but for the causes of the failures of the Lebanon war to be established, and for the lessons to be quickly learned ahead of a future armed conflict," she said.