Haluz is currently the Deputy Chief-of-Staff and although Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz announced his recommendation that Halutz replace Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, his appointment is subject to cabinet approval.
Halutz has been the main contender ever since DM Mofaz announced last week that Yaalon’s term would not be extended for a fourth year, as has commonly been done in the past. Mofaz reportedly was not confident in Yaalon’s willingness to take part in implementing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan. In the past, Yaalon refered to the plan as “giving a supporting-wind to terror.” The current Chief-of-Staff has also been an outspoken opponent of the proposed withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor, a hotbed of arms-smuggling tunnels along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
The new IDF chief, a close friend of the Sharon family, will take over the position just 11 days before the planned expulsion of Gaza’s Jewish communities, as well as four towns in the northern Shomron. In the past he has made statements such as “Ganim and Kadim are home,” but it is assumed that someone with doubts about PM Sharon’s plans to withdraw from those communities would not be appointed to such a powerful post at this time.
The left-wing Yesh Gvul (‘There is a Border’) organization has conducted an intense public relations and legal battle against Halutz, hanging posters across Israel in recent months reading: "Dan Halutz must be flown home." The posters show Halutz with a red cross marked across his face. Explosions are pictured around his head as well.
The posters were part of a protest campaign against the Air Force's targeted killing of a major terrorist in Gaza. In July 2002, the Israeli air force carried out a targeted strike in Gaza against senior terrorist Salah Shehadeh. Shehadeh was killed, along with 14 others in his immediate vicinity. According to the affidavit submitted by General Halutz, who was air force commander at the time, he told the pilots involved in the mission that "they can sleep soundly, and that their performance was perfect." He had, he stated, a duty to back up his soldiers and encourage them. Halutz also told the court that in principle, he would agree that avoidance of civilian casualties can justify calling off a counter-terrorism mission.
The 56-year-old former Air Force commander lives in Moshav Hagor, which is near Kfar Saba. He will be the IDF’s 18th Chief-of-Staff and the first Air Force commander to assume the position.
Knesset Members Yossi Sarid and Ron Cohen (Mertez/Yahad) strongly criticized the Halutz appointment. Cohen said putting Halutz in the post damages the purity of the Israeli Defense Forces.
Likud Party chairman MK Gideon Sa’ar praised the appointment of Halutz saying the move is a final answer to left-wing extremists who brought Halutz all the way to the Supreme Court in their attempts to thwart his promotion. The promotion gives encouragement to all those on the front lines of the fight against Palestinian terror,” Sa’ar added.
MK Muhammed Barakeh (Hadash-Ta’al) said the appointment is a mark of disgrace and shame that will not be erased. “It is not surprising that the Prime Minister and Defense Minister chose to promote him. After all, we are speaking about a violent trinity which is worthless and lacks any sense of humanity,” he said.
National Union MK Aryeh Eldad welcomed Halutz in his new position but added he "feels sorry for him," that he must carry out the uprooting of Jewish communities. Eldad also criticized Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz for "sacrificing" outgoing Chief-of-Staff Moshe Ya'alon "on the altar of disengagement."
Halutz has been the main contender ever since DM Mofaz announced last week that Yaalon’s term would not be extended for a fourth year, as has commonly been done in the past. Mofaz reportedly was not confident in Yaalon’s willingness to take part in implementing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan. In the past, Yaalon refered to the plan as “giving a supporting-wind to terror.” The current Chief-of-Staff has also been an outspoken opponent of the proposed withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor, a hotbed of arms-smuggling tunnels along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
The new IDF chief, a close friend of the Sharon family, will take over the position just 11 days before the planned expulsion of Gaza’s Jewish communities, as well as four towns in the northern Shomron. In the past he has made statements such as “Ganim and Kadim are home,” but it is assumed that someone with doubts about PM Sharon’s plans to withdraw from those communities would not be appointed to such a powerful post at this time.
The left-wing Yesh Gvul (‘There is a Border’) organization has conducted an intense public relations and legal battle against Halutz, hanging posters across Israel in recent months reading: "Dan Halutz must be flown home." The posters show Halutz with a red cross marked across his face. Explosions are pictured around his head as well.
The posters were part of a protest campaign against the Air Force's targeted killing of a major terrorist in Gaza. In July 2002, the Israeli air force carried out a targeted strike in Gaza against senior terrorist Salah Shehadeh. Shehadeh was killed, along with 14 others in his immediate vicinity. According to the affidavit submitted by General Halutz, who was air force commander at the time, he told the pilots involved in the mission that "they can sleep soundly, and that their performance was perfect." He had, he stated, a duty to back up his soldiers and encourage them. Halutz also told the court that in principle, he would agree that avoidance of civilian casualties can justify calling off a counter-terrorism mission.
The 56-year-old former Air Force commander lives in Moshav Hagor, which is near Kfar Saba. He will be the IDF’s 18th Chief-of-Staff and the first Air Force commander to assume the position.
Knesset Members Yossi Sarid and Ron Cohen (Mertez/Yahad) strongly criticized the Halutz appointment. Cohen said putting Halutz in the post damages the purity of the Israeli Defense Forces.
Likud Party chairman MK Gideon Sa’ar praised the appointment of Halutz saying the move is a final answer to left-wing extremists who brought Halutz all the way to the Supreme Court in their attempts to thwart his promotion. The promotion gives encouragement to all those on the front lines of the fight against Palestinian terror,” Sa’ar added.
MK Muhammed Barakeh (Hadash-Ta’al) said the appointment is a mark of disgrace and shame that will not be erased. “It is not surprising that the Prime Minister and Defense Minister chose to promote him. After all, we are speaking about a violent trinity which is worthless and lacks any sense of humanity,” he said.
National Union MK Aryeh Eldad welcomed Halutz in his new position but added he "feels sorry for him," that he must carry out the uprooting of Jewish communities. Eldad also criticized Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz for "sacrificing" outgoing Chief-of-Staff Moshe Ya'alon "on the altar of disengagement."