Vered Luvitch, Ynet News

"Israel has a tendency to belittle its enemies," said Prof. Ruth Gabizon, a former member of the Winograd Committee, which probed the failures of the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Speaking at conference held by the Institute for National Security Studies on Wednesday, Gabizon said "we like to call them (enemies) terrorists; we look down on them and underestimate their legitimacy.

"We must understand that we are facing a stubborn enemy that will not surrender easily. They are very serious as far as their sense of righteousness is concerned," she said.

Gabizon claimed that part of the failure in Lebanon stemmed from the fact that the war's goals were unclear, saying that the situation was similar to the one the IDF faced during the recent offensive in Gaza.

The professor said that both wars ended with an "insufficient" ceasefire, adding that "the conflict in Gaza is not over."

Retired Judge Eliyahu Winograd, who headed the Commission, told the conference that the IDF's conduct during the operation in Gaza proved that it had drawn lessons from the war in Lebanon, at least as far as its relationship with the media was concerned.

"There were no leaks by senior officers; the decision to prohibit soldiers from bringing their cell phones to Gaza was implemented in full, and the policy of accessibility to the press, which was supported by the previous chief of staff (Dan Halutz) was abandoned," he said.

Winograd said the entrance of reporters into the battle zone in Gaza was carried out in coordination with the army, adding that the IDF Spokesperson's Unit was the main source of information for the media.

"It appears that the reporters and anchormen internalized the lessons of the Second Lebanon War and did not compete with one another for scoops," Winograd said. "The press cooperated with the Military Censor."