Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced strident calls for his resignation in the wake of harsh findings of an official inquiry into the shortcomings of his leadership during last summer?s costly but inconclusive war in Lebanon.

The commission?s first report was released yesterday and government officials confirmed that the findings would were strongly critical of Olmert and his defense minister, Amir Peretz. That was enough to trigger calls for Olmert?s resignation from coalition partners as well as opponents. Olmert and Peretz, who took office with limited security experience less than two months before the war, already had lost much of their public support because of the conflict, launched when Hezbollah guerrillas captured two soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid on July 12. Relying heavily on massive airstrikes recommended by the military chief, Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, Olmert pledged to his people that Israel would crush Hezbollah and force return of the captured soldiers. Neither goal was accomplished, and Halutz already has resigned.

Instead, Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with nearly 4,000 rockets, halting only when the UN Security Council imposed a cease-fire, its short-range rocket capacity intact. Israel launched a late, costly ground offensive with the Security Council nearing completion of its cease-fire resolution. In 34 days of fighting, between 1,035 and 1,191 Lebanese civilians and combatants were killed, as were 119 Israeli soldiers and 39 civilians.