Dan Halutz
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[Dan Halutz] (Hebrew: ) (born 1948 in Hagor) to an Iranian-Jewish family, is an Israeli Lt. General and former Israeli Air Force commander. Halutz was appointed as Chief of Staff (Hebrew: ) of the Israel Defense Forces on June 1, 2005. He has a degree in economics. He is married and has three children.
Military career
Halutz joined the Israeli Air Force (IAF) in 1966 and graduated from combat flight school in 1968. In 1969 he joined the first F-4 Phantom squadron of the IAF. During the War of Attrition Halutz carried out 40 operational flights.
After the war he left the IDF in order to study, but returned to active duty when the Yom Kippur War started in 1973. During the Yom Kippur War Halutz carried out over 43 operational flights in which he shot down 3 enemy planes in dogfights.
In 1978 he left the IDF again and served 4 years as a reserve pilot but returned to the service in 1982 when he was also trained to pilot the new F-16 jet fighter. In 1984 he commanded a Phantom squadron. In 1986 he was appointed to head the IAI Lavi jet project. After the project was canceled due to American pressure, Halutz was appointed as commander of Hatzor airbase in 1991.
In 1993 he was promoted to Brigadier General and appointed as head of air group. In 1995 he was appointed as the head of air force headquarters.
In 1998 he was promoted to Major General and in 1999 he was appointed as the head of the Operations Wing in the IDF General Staff.
In 2000 Halutz was appointed as the Israeli Air Force commander. He led the IAF during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, during which he was recognized by experts and subordinates as an innovative and a charismatic leader. Halutz's main reforms in the Air Force were the tightening of cooperation with the ground forces and the Shin Bet, the massive employment of UAV drones, the upgrading of precision strike capabilities in helicopter gunships and jets and the sharp decrease of accidents and aerial failures. During Halutz's time, only a small number of accidents occurred, non of them lethal. Moreover, he held a record of a straight 2.5 years with a clean slate of no accidents at all. Despite all this, Halutz's term will be remembered mainly because the IAF was employed for targeted killing of Palestinian terror leaders.
In 2004 he was appointed as Deputy Chief of Staff.
On February 23 2005, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz announced that Halutz would be the IDF next Chief of Staff.
On June 1st, 2005, Halutz was officially appointed as the 18th Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and was awarded with the rank of Rav-Aluf (Lieutenant General). It is the second time in the history of the Israel Defense Forces that a former IAF commander becomes head of the entire military, after Chaim Laskov.
Halutz during the al-Aqsa Intifada
As the Israeli Air Force commander Halutz implemented changes which earned him the appreciation and respect of his officers and pilots. During Halutz's term, Israel purchased F-15E and F-16 fighter jets, capable of strategic bombing in all weather conditions. Halutz also expanded the usage of UAV drones to various missions as an effective tool of scouting and reconnaissance.
Halutz also tightened the cooperation of the IAF with the IDF ground forces and the Shabak (the Israeli internal security service and counter-terror agency), enabling the IAF to arrange targeted killings of Palestinian terror leaders within minutes after being provided intelligence from the Shabak.
The controversial "targeted killings" policy also caused some controversy about Halutz himself.
In August 2002, an IAF warplane dropped a one-ton bomb on a building in which a top Hamas bombmaker and commander, Saleh Shehada, was hiding. However, the bombing caused more damage than expected and many thin structures around the building were hit as well. Shehada was killed, but with him 14 other civilians were killed. Israel expressed its apology over the death of civilians but stated that they had to carry the attack in order to stop a "ticking bomb" (i.e. Saleh Shehada) and that their original estimation did not expect such a high civilian toll.
Following this, Israeli left wing activists and some journalists accused the IAF pilot of a "war crime". The radical left-wing Gush Shalom movement also threatened to turn the pilot over to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Halutz, who wanted to back up his subordinates, gave an interview to Haaretz on August 21, 2002. To his pilots he said:
- [To pilots] "Guys, ... you can sleep well at night. I also sleep well, by the way. You aren't the ones who choose the targets, and you were not the ones who chose the target in this particular case. You are not responsible for the contents of the target. Your execution was perfect. Superb. And I repeat again: There is no problem here that concerns you. You did exactly what you were instructed to do. You did not deviate from that by so much as a millimeter to the right or to the left. And anyone who has a problem with that is invited to see me.
When the reporter asked him about the feelings of a pilot and what he feels when he drops a bomb, Halutz answered:
- No. That is not a legitimate question and it is not asked. But if you nevertheless want to know what I feel when I release a bomb, I will tell you: I feel a light bump to the plane as a result of the bomb's release. A second later it's gone, and that's all. That is what I feel.
- Is this the public for which the Israel Defense Forces is fighting day in and day out? All those bleeding hearts who have the gall to use Mafioso methods of blackmail against fighters - I don't recall that they ever threatened to turn over one of the arch-terrorists, the terrorists who have killed many Israeli civilians, to The Hague. What I have to say about those people is that this is a democracy, where everyone can always express his opinion. But not to be a traitor.
- [Interviewer asking] Are you suggesting that members of the Gush Shalom ("Peace Block") group who made those comments should be placed on trial for treason?
- [Halutz answers] We have to find the right clause in the law and place them on trial in Israel. Yes. You wanted to talk to me about morality, and I say that a state that does not protect itself is acting immorally. A state that does not back up its fighters will not survive. Happily, the State of Israel does back up its fighters. This vocal but negligible minority brings to mind dark times in the history of the Jewish people, when a minority among us went and informed on another part of the nation. That must not happen again. Who would have believed that pilots of the air force would find their cars spray-painted with savage graffiti because of a mission they carried out?
Halutz's harsh expression became a public controversy, mainly on the left wing which was outraged. Right wingers and centerists backed-up Halutz, stating the Halutz is committed not to harm innocent civilians - but not at the expense of innocent Israeli lives.
Following Halutz's appointment to Deputy Chief of Staff, a group of prominent left wing activists, together with the Yesh Gvul refusal group, filed a petition with the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice (BAGATZ) in order to prevent the appointment. The petitioners attached a cut and somewhat edited version of the interview. [link]
The judges ordered Halutz to write an essay, clarifying his stand in the issue. Halutz complied and submitted an essay saying:
- ''The fact the univolved civilians and innocent children were killed, saddens me. I regret that. (...) [The Air Force policy] is to employ the minimal force required to accomlish the mission. (...) If someone of those who took part in that operation would know this would be the tragic result - it would be canceled [or postponed]. A proof for this, is that the operation was already postponed number of times, because information we had about probable innocents around the terrorist Salah Shehade. (...) I (give great value) to the issue of responsiblity distribution between the commander and his subordinates, between the pilots and those who sent to the mission, and therefore I told (them) to sleep well at nights."
Following Shaul Mofaz announcement that Halutz will be the next IDF chief of staff, the Arab and Yachad MKs condemned the decision, while right wing and center MKs blessed Halutz and condemned the left for his objection to Halutz. MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) said the Halutz appointment to chief of staff is a winning answer to the far left.
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See also
- List of Israel's Chiefs of the General Staff
External links
- [Curriculum Vitae - Deputy Chief of the General Staff], IDF official website
- [Interview with Halutz in 2002], Haaretz (August 21, 2002) : this interview outraged Israeli left wing groups.
- [Mofaz announced Halutz as the next Chief of Staff, the left slams the appointed while the right and center welcome it], Haaretz (February 23, 2005)
- June 1, 2005: [Dan Halutz is officially appointed as Chief of Staff] (Israeli Defence Forces official press release)
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