JERUSALEM, Aug 21: Israel’s top government watchdog on Monday launched an investigation into the war in Lebanon as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected mounting public calls for a sweeping probe into the 34-day offensive.

State comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss’s office announced that it would begin to assemble ‘information, documents and protocols’ related to the war that left more than 1,300 people dead in Lebanon and failed to meet Israel’s objectives.

“The office’s different departments overseeing security, army and various government ministries will contribute their experts to examine the conduct of the war and the situation on the home front,” Lindenstrauss’s office said.

Although non-binding and lacking the weight of a state commission, Israel’s most powerful and authoritative type of public inquiry, the comptroller’s report is likely to have far-reaching repercussions on domestic politics.

Monday’s announcement of the inquiry from Israel’s main public watchdog came as Olmert, whose approval ratings have plunged in the three months since he took office, rejected mounting public calls for inquiries.—AFP