A War Without a Defense Minister  Should we conclude that a
civilian should not be appointed defense minister? The answer is
a resounding no. There have already been examples of it, and
there is no need to go back to David Ben-Gurion.  The thousands
of rockets that hit the Israeli home front during the Second
Lebanon War and the public sense of failure in the war join the
characterization of the war as exceptional in being the first
that was in effect conducted without a defense minister.
Officially, the defense minister was the head of an important
party, but Amir Peretz did not really do his job. That is the
feeling among the public and in the defense establishment. Had
the war ended with sweepingly positive results, they might have
continued with business as usual. But the results were
otherwise, and many wonder how it happened that Peretz was
appointed defense minister at all. Even Peretz himself
understands the situation and has decided to demand the Finance
Ministry in a future coalition agreement.  Th