The Israeli army's fabled invincibility in battle has been weakened by decades of counter-terrorist duty and an aversion to accepting casualties, according to an inquiry led by Ehud Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier and a former prime minister.

Mr Barak, now back in government as defence minister, launched the investigation two months ago after the army's disappointing performance against Hizbollah insurgents in southern Lebanon last year.

A temporary invasion of the territory held by the terrorist organisation failed to dislodge its fighters from strongpoints in fortified villages or prevent them from firing 4000 rockets into Israeli settlements in Galilee.

Mr Barak has spent months interviewing commanders and soldiers who took part in the 2006 offensive.

He said he was "disturbed" by how much attitudes in the ground forces had changed since the 1982 campaigns against Yasser Arafat's men and the Syrian army in 1982.

This had manifested itself in shortcomings produced by an evident lack of training and a reluctance to take losses to achieve victory. Attacks had been called off when a relatively few men were hit by enemy fire.

One reservist tank gunner told him he had fired just one live shell in five years because of equipment shortages. An entire armoured battalion had ground to a halt in the dark because it had not practised moving its vehicles at night.

"No-one will wait another five years for their next live-fire exercise," Mr Barak said yesterday. "The culture of counter-terrorism has displaced the culture of conventional war-fighting and that will now change."

Israeli troops earned a deserved reputation in wars from 1948 to 1982 for both tactical skill and for pressing on regardless of casualties, mostly against overwhelming odds.

Even when Israel was taken by surprise in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, with two-thirds of its army on leave, its soldiers rallied to repel Egyptian, Syrian and other Arab forces and ended the conflict after18 days of hard fighting.

Many Israeli commanders feel they will shortly have to face a second war against a resurgent Hizbollah - now re-armed by Iran - with a second front to the south against Hamas militants in Gaza.

Mr Barak said his mission now was to rebuild the Israeli army and restore national pride in its capabilities. This included ensuring that soldiers had the necessary equipment and training.

Reports in the past few months indicated that up to one young Israeli in four who was called up for military service was attempting to gain exemption from the draft.