Israel vs Lebanon, the sequel

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday afternoon that Israel's month-long military offensive in Lebanon had dealt Hezbollah a "harsh blow," and vowed to continue to pursue the leaders of militant organization.

But speaking after Olmert, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud criticized the government for what he termed a failure to meet its self-declared aims.

The conflict, which began with July 12 abduction of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers and the killing of eight others by Hezbollah, seemed to have ended Monday morning as a United Nations-brokered truce told hold.

In his first address to the Knesset plenum since the cease-fire went into effect, Olmert said that Hezbollah was no longer a state within state, saying that there was no longer a situation in which "a terrorist organization is allowed to act inside a state as an arm of the axis of evil."

A tense calm took the place of bitter fighting at 8 A.M. Monday, as the guns were stilled after a month of hostilities.

Olmert also admitted that there had been "shortcomings" in the way in which the conflict had been managed, and said that there would be a period of reflection.

"We will have to review ourselves in all the battles. We won't sweep things under the carpet," he pledged, but warned that the country "does not have the luxury of falling into endless internal disputes."

"The overall responsibility for this operation lies with me, the prime minister. I am not asking to share this with anyone," said Olmert.

Olmert vowed that Israel would continue to hunt down the Hezbollah leaders, calling it a "moral right," and said that Israel reserved the right to respond to any violation of the truce.

"We will continue to pursue them everywhere and at all times," he said. "We have no intention of asking anyone's permission."

He said, however, that the military offensive had hurt Hezbollah's long-term capabilities, its arsenal and its confidence, and that "the war changed the strategic balance against Hezbollah."

Anticipating that another war with the militant group may come in the future, he said Israel would learn the lessons of this war and "do better."

And, addressing the international community, he said that Israel would not apologize for the offensive.

He said that Israel's response to the cross-border attack against Hezbollah had proved that it would not tolerate any threat to its sovereignty.

The speech was interrupted by Arab MK Ahmed Tibi, whose repeated heckling resulted in his removal from the plenum. Several other legislators were also removed.

Olmert also paid tribute to the all soldiers involved in the fighting, from IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz to the regular and reserve soldiers who fought on the ground.

"You are the heroes of the people of Israel," he said.

He also sent wishes for a speedy recovery to all the wounded, both soldiers and civilians.

During his speech, Netanyahu said that the "doctrine of unilateral withdrawals had proven to be a failure."

Such moves give Israel's enemies "a tactical advantage," he argued.

"We left Lebanon to the last centimeter and they are firing. We left Gaza to the last centimeter and they are firing," said Netanyahu, who quit the government of Olmert's predecessor, Ariel Sharon, in protest at the 2005 unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.

Israel, under former prime minister Ehud Barak, pulled its troops out of Lebanon in May 2000, after an 18-year presence in the south of the country.

Olmert and his Kadima party were elected in March on a platform which included a plan for a possible unilateral withdrawal from large swathes of the West Bank.

"We live in a coma and we received a wakeup call," said the Likud leader, adding that he could not "fathom why a state of emergency was not declared."

"It must be said honestly, there were many failures, failures in identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war, failures in the management of the home front," Netanyahu said.

"Without doubt we shall need later on to learn the lessons and fix the mistakes," he said.