The appointment of Dan Halutz as Israeli army's new chief of staff Wednesday, June 1, was best described by a famous Israeli writer as "a man lacking moral inhibitions".

Halutz is known as the mastermind of the policy of aerial extra-judicial execution of Palestinian anti-occupation activists and his official replacement of Moshe Yaalon as Chief of Staff of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), was likely to draw more than just concern.

While Halutz's first task will be overseeing the Gaza Strip pullout, speculation has already begun to focus on how he will tackle what the political establishment now regards as Israel's biggest strategic threat – Iran, reported Agency France (AFP).

Chosen by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Halutz is the first man with an air force background to be chosen as chief of staff in the history of the Jewish state. He is also of Iranian origin.

But the controversy over Halutz himself is stemming from his own record, especially in overseeing one of Israel's most-condemned anti-resistance tactics; namely extra-judicial killings.

Halutz ordered the drop of one-ton bomb on an apartment in a residential building in Gaza on July 22, 2002 to extra-judicially kill Palestinian leading activist Salah Shehadeh, but killed also 9 children among 15 women and bystanders, after which he was quoted as saying, all he feels is “a slight tremor in the wing of the airplane.”

He later said he told the crew of the plane which dropped the bomb that they "can sleep well at night... Your execution was perfect."

The interview prompted a rights group to petition the high court to reverse his appointment as deputy chief of staff.

No Moral Inhibitions

On February 28, when Halutz was still deputy-chief of staff and it was clear he was on his way to the army's top post soon, famous Israeli columnist with Haaretz Gideon Levy wrote: “The appointment of Major General Dan Halutz to chief of the General Staff is the appointment of the right man at the right time. The Israel Defense Forces deserves a man lacking moral inhibitions, after three years' service by a chief of staff whose actions were characterized by very few moral inhibitions.

“Halutz's appointment will therefore help rip away the remnants of the mask of morality that the IDF (Israeli Army) wears. When the man at the top of the pyramid is one who formulates his moral principles in such a callous and hard fashion, it will be very difficult for the IDF to continue holding seminars on human rights, human dignity and freedom and purity of arms, or to commission an ethical code from a philosopher.”

Born in Tel Aviv in 1948, the same year the Jewish state was established on the land of Palestine, he graduated from Tel Aviv University with a degree in economics.

Source: IslamOnline.net & News Agencies