Quislings

From David Bedein, Bureau Chief,Israel Resource News Agency:

Top officers from Israel’s High Command met on Monday afternoon, August 14th at the Beit Agron International Press Center in Jerusalem for an official briefing about the war in Lebanon.

Israel’s top military brass told the media that the Israeli media had achieved its goal, which was to "weaken Hizbullah" so that a political process could be facilitated - for the UN and the Lebanese government to enforce UN resolutions which state that Lebanon must disarm all foreign and terrorist troops from its soil.

Since I was the only reporter present at the briefing who had also covered weekly briefings with the Prime Minister’s senior staff that were conducted each Sunday during the war following cabinet meetings , it should be noted that the Israeli Prime Minister had instructed he Israel Cabinet Secretary to tell the media at the end of each cabinet meeting over the past month that the purposes of the war were to get back the two Israeli soldiers who were abducted on July 12th and .and to "Defeat the Hizbullah", not to “weaken the Hizbullah”.

The Israeli military spokespeople said that they “did not know” what the Prime Minister’s cabinet secretary had been telling the media.