The vote was unanimous, with three abstentions. Meanwhile, at least 40,000 IDF soldiers waited to cross the border Wednesday evening and begin the push to the Litani River and possibly beyond.
Estimates on how long the operation would take varied from one month to six weeks, and senior IDF officials said it was likely that several hundred soldiers would lose their lives in the war.
Shas party Chairman and Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai spoke to reporters after the meeting, which took several hours. “The assessment is that it is going to last 30 days,” he said somberly. “I think it is wrong to make this assessment. I think it will take a lot longer.” Yishai was one of the ministers who abstained from the vote. Vice Premier Shimon Peres (Labor) and Minister Ofir Pines also abstained.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz were charged with the task of defining the timing and scope of the operation, which is aimed at finding and destroying the rocket launchers used to attack communities in northern Israel.
Knesset Member Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) praised the decision but said it should have come a month ago. "Finally, the government has made the obvious decision - to assign the IDF with the task of defending the country from missiles and rockets. It is just a shame that the decision comes four weeks late, during which severe damage was done to the home front and heavy economic losses were incurred."
Shteinitz added that only the IDF will be able to eliminate the Hizbullah from southern Lebanon, as opposed to any international or Lebanese military.
The decision came in one of the bloodiest weeks of fighting since the war began.
On Sunday, 12 reservists were killed when a Katyusha rocket slammed into their gathering site outside the cemetery at Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, near Kiryat Shmona. Eleven Israeli civilians died and more than 150 wounded and shocked in rocket barrages across the north the same day.
Monday saw two soldiers killed and seven wounded as they once again fought for control of the village of Bint Jbeil, a central Hizbullah stronghold. IDF troops had taken control of the village on July 25th after several days of bloody battles in which eight soldiers lost their lives.
On Tuesday, five soldiers were killed and 23 wounded. Defense Minister Amir Peretz warned the same day that Israel would push back Hizbullah terrorists if diplomatic measures did not succeed.
By Wednesday evening, some 25 soldiers had been wounded in the line of duty and were being evacuated to hospitals in Tzfat and Haifa. A gag order delayed the publication of the fact that 15 reservists had fallen until early Thursday.
Estimates on how long the operation would take varied from one month to six weeks, and senior IDF officials said it was likely that several hundred soldiers would lose their lives in the war.
Shas party Chairman and Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai spoke to reporters after the meeting, which took several hours. “The assessment is that it is going to last 30 days,” he said somberly. “I think it is wrong to make this assessment. I think it will take a lot longer.” Yishai was one of the ministers who abstained from the vote. Vice Premier Shimon Peres (Labor) and Minister Ofir Pines also abstained.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz were charged with the task of defining the timing and scope of the operation, which is aimed at finding and destroying the rocket launchers used to attack communities in northern Israel.
Knesset Member Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) praised the decision but said it should have come a month ago. "Finally, the government has made the obvious decision - to assign the IDF with the task of defending the country from missiles and rockets. It is just a shame that the decision comes four weeks late, during which severe damage was done to the home front and heavy economic losses were incurred."
Shteinitz added that only the IDF will be able to eliminate the Hizbullah from southern Lebanon, as opposed to any international or Lebanese military.
The decision came in one of the bloodiest weeks of fighting since the war began.
On Sunday, 12 reservists were killed when a Katyusha rocket slammed into their gathering site outside the cemetery at Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, near Kiryat Shmona. Eleven Israeli civilians died and more than 150 wounded and shocked in rocket barrages across the north the same day.
Monday saw two soldiers killed and seven wounded as they once again fought for control of the village of Bint Jbeil, a central Hizbullah stronghold. IDF troops had taken control of the village on July 25th after several days of bloody battles in which eight soldiers lost their lives.
On Tuesday, five soldiers were killed and 23 wounded. Defense Minister Amir Peretz warned the same day that Israel would push back Hizbullah terrorists if diplomatic measures did not succeed.
By Wednesday evening, some 25 soldiers had been wounded in the line of duty and were being evacuated to hospitals in Tzfat and Haifa. A gag order delayed the publication of the fact that 15 reservists had fallen until early Thursday.