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Former IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz, thinks Israel should mount a crushing offensive against Gaza. He called for a "mortal blow" to be dealt to Hamas's civilian and "military" leadership. In an interview with IDF Radio, Halutz said, "We must bring back our deterrence vis-à-vis Gaza. It has not existed for even one moment since Operation Cast Lead and to this day." Halutz said that in the end, Israel will have to conduct an extensive operation of this kind, and there is no reason to wait. "A rocket struck an empty school on the Sabbath," he...

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz on Tuesday night announced his resignation as head of the military. Senior IDF officers welcomed the resignation, saying it was "high time." The deputy chief of staff, Moshe Kaplinsky, will act as the interim head of the armed forces. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed regret over the move late Tuesday. Two weeks ago, Halutz said he would resign if the Winograd committee implicated him as responsible for the mishandling of the second Lebanon war. "If the committee hands down an unambiguous sentence, it would obligate me [to resign]," he said. The...

Senior Israel Defense Forces officers expressed dissatisfaction yesterday with the announcement by Chief of Staff Dan Halutz that he had recently instructed the Field Security Directorate at the General Staff to keep track of their telephone conversations. According to a report in Haaretz yesterday, Halutz instructed the Field Security Directorate to provide him with the telephone logs of the generals, their department heads and their secretaries, in order to crosscheck whether they have had contacts with journalists. [ . . . ] According to the disgruntled officers , the chief of staff's action "stinks of McCarthyism" . . .

The decision to expand the ground operation in Lebanon and advance to the Litani River was not made with the knowledge that the fighting would end within 48 hours, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday. "When we began the operation, we did not know we only had 48 hours. We knew a diplomatic process was set to begin, but we didn't know we'd have to stop after 48 hours," Halutz said. He noted that when the decision to expand the fighting was made, the United Nations Security Council...

Halutz admits no-go zone has yet to prevent rocket attacks Seven Kassams fired early Tuesday in response to targeted killing; 16 fugitives arrested overnight in W. Bank. Jan. 2, 2006 22:08 | Updated Jan. 3, 2006 15:42 Seven Kassams fired at western Negev By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH AND AP Palestinians gather around the wreckage of a car after it was hit by an IAF missile in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. Photo: APEarly Tuesday, Palestinians fired seven Kassam rockets at the western Negev in response to the Monday night attack by the IAF in which three Palestinians affiliated with the...

Israel denies it's about to bomb Iran nuke site Jan 2, 2006 Israeli military chief Dan Halutz has discounted an imminent air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities as Iran's President delivered a diatribe against the Jewish state. "I don't think an operation by the Israel defence forces against the Iranians will be necessary soon," General Halutz said. "All political options for halting the Iranian program must be exhausted before other options are considered." He appeared to be toning down the implications of recent statements by Israeli leaders that Iran was only three months away from achieving the technological know-how...

Iran could be producing nuclear weapons in less than three years, according to a briefing given on Tuesday to the Israeli Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee from Israel's army chief Lieutenant General Dan Halutz. The meeting addressed the imminent dangers of Iranian nuclear progress. "If the Iranians continue now then they will be able to begin enriching uranium at the start of March," Halutz told the parliamentary forum, according to its chairman, Yuval Steinitz. From there, “It would take two to three years” to develop an atomic bomb. This new report can only increase the already-heightened tensions between Israel...

Signatory of Israel pilots' letter says regrets signing petition By Amos Harel and Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service Colonel Ran, one of the 27 signatories of the pilots' letter of refusal, in which they stated that they would not participate in operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said Sunday he regretted signing the letter, and was changing his mind. The move came after a slew of criticism of the pilots' move from government figures and from fellow Israel Air Force airmen. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking in a holiday interview to Israel Radio on Friday condemned...