JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday met for the first time with a commission investigating the government's conduct of the Lebanon war, an official said.

"During the meeting, the prime minister presented his position before the members of the commission, which began the initial stages of the inquiry," the official told AFP, adding the meeting was "very positive."

On September 17, Israeli's cabinet voted to establish the five-member commission to investigate the 34-day offensive against the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah that failed to achieve its main objectives.

Defence Minister Amir Peretz met with the commission late Thursday afternoon, his office said.

The commission is made up of retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, two university professors and two retired generals.

Set up more than a month after a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the offensive on August 14, the inquiry will probe how the government and defence establishments dealt with the threat from Hezbollah before and during the war.

Olmert and his government have come under intense criticism over the war, which saw more than 160 Israelis killed but which failed to achieve its main objectives of stopping Hezbollah from firing nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel and securing the release of two soldiers seized by the militia.

Israel has also weathered heavy criticism abroad for the devastating use of its firepower in Lebanon, where more than 1,200 people -- mostly civilians -- were killed, and thousands of homes and infrastructure targets were bombed.

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