The Weapons Israel Missed

U.S. and British leaders urgently want to find Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction to convince their public (and opposing politicians) that the war against Iraq was justified. Israel is just as interested in where those weapons are, but for another reason: to figure out why Israeli intelligence couldn't find them. A secret Israeli parliamentary committee began hearings last week to look into the matter. Sources tell TIME that the Knesset investigative committee will examine not whether Iraqis possessed chemical and biological weapons--of that the Israelis are certain--but rather why the Mossad, the country's international espionage organization, and military intelligence were not able to locate them. The committee, headed by Foreign Affairs and Defense Chairman Yuval Steinitz, heard classified testimony last week from the army's chief of staff and intelligence head, and will soon call Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and the head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan.

The army, which feared some of its officers might be named as scapegoats, strongly opposed the creation of the committee. But Knesset officials insist that it is vital to examine Israel's intelligence methods in the event other countries in the Middle East, such as Iran, threaten Israel with these kinds of lethal weapons. The committee expects to produce a summary of its findings in six months, though the full report will be classified. --By Matt Rees