Ya'alon, Mofaz at odds over call-up of reserves

[bemildred]

Interesting bit:

Senior officers also bitterly criticized the
political echelon this week, in the aftermath
of the Air Force attack on an Islamic Jiahd
training base near the Syrian capital in the
early hours of Sunday morning. Even before the
troops involved in the operation -
including support and rescue units which had
taken up positions near the target in case a
pilot was forced to abandon his plane -
had completed their mission, Yedioth Ahronoth
ran a front page headline claiming that
"Damascus fears an attack on a Jihad
training base."

An unofficial and preliminary investigation
cleared the few military men who knew of the
attack in advance, leading senior officers to
the conclusion that the political echelons
- either Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz - were
responsible for divulging information.

Sharon's bureau, accused by the military
in private meetings of divulging sensitive
operational information and endangering IDF
troops, bore the brunt of the criticism from
the military. The officers said the leaks were
meant to balance out the headlines about the
deadly bombing in Haifa's Maxim restaurant the
previous day. Ya'alon, who was only told about
the premature publication after the operation
was finalized and over, refused to comment on
the affair.

Haaretz