In Defense Of Israel IDF Chief Dan Halutz

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem----August 16......Israel is at war. No, I'm not talking about Hezbollah or Lebanon, but at war with itself. And at the wrong time.

Israel Defence Force (IDF) Chief of Staff Dan Halutz made headlines in an Israel daily newspaper Ma'ariv which accused Halutz of placing his own personal finances before the security of the country. That as soldiers were dying, he took the time to call his stock broker.
That Halutz knew that a war was imminent so he sold his stock portfolio.

Halutz responded by calling the newspaper report "baseless" and "evil." "I don't know who is behind this and I do not plan to be dragged into a debate over my personal integrity," he told reporters during a briefing in his Tel Aviv office. "I am also a citizen and I have my own household."

Halutz is correct. He is a citizen, has his own household and is a human being. But he is also the Israel Chief of Staff, so when he gives an order, eats food or merely goes to to the bathroom - all is magnified.

There are many versions going around today as to when Halutz placed that two minute call to his stock broker.

In a newspaper interview given to journalist Sima Kadmon of the Israel daily Yediot Ahronot, Halutz explained he had issued the instructions to call his broker in the morning, before the Israel Lebanon Hezbollah border raid, which resulted in the kidnapping and deaths of the eight IDF soldiers. Further, the call had only come through before the crisis began. 'I can understand the criticism,' Halutz admitted to Kadmon, 'and in retrospect, had I thought about it back then twice perhaps I might have acted differently.'

IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky has expressed his support for Israel Defense Forces Chief Dan Halutz, slamming criticism leveled at him in the wake of reports he sold his investment portfolio at noon on July 12 - the day the Hezbollah war broke out.

"It's sad. There's no reason he shouldn't continue at his post, said Kaplinsky." "I was with him from the first moment they reported the abduction (of the two IDF soldiers.) I went down to the command center three minutes after him and I saw how he managed affairs with professionalism and level-headedness," Kaplinsky said. "I saw the decisions he made, his mental and later physical investment…to say that he was dealing with other things looks to me like completely unrelated to reality."

"I know it may look bad," the deputy army chief said, referring to Halutz's order to sell his shares, but added: "We must remember that even at the general staff headquarters during (significant) incidents we have the time for some technical matters. So one moment you reply to a phone call, and another moment you arrange something else – it happens to each one of us." Kaplinsky also rejected out of hand hints that the army chief sold his investment portfolio because he knew a war was about to break out that was sure to lead to a stock exchange collapse. "At noon none of us knew we're going to war, I promise that," he said. "At that phase we were dealing with the question of how deep we'll attack Hizbullah targets…the picture cleared only late at night." 'I'm completely at peace with his decisions'

Turning his attention to nameless senior IDF officers who called for Halutz to resign, Kaplinsky said: "It's very easy to criticize, certainly when it's anonymous. Which senior officers are we talking about? If there's someone who thinks the chief of staff should resign, he should get up and say that." "I saw his ability to take decisions during those difficult times," Kaplinsky added. "There were very difficult decisions and I’m not sure others would take them as quickly as he did."

Israel Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Tzahi Hanegbi (Kadima) expressed support for Halutz. "I am personally hesitant to make judgments regarding the Chief of General Staff's financial actions in the last couple of days," he said. "I am certain that other members of the committee share my views. There is a sense that instead of an Israeli culture, we have developed a culture similar to that of French colonial guillotine executors, making quick verdicts fashionable."

What's wrong with this picture? Several Israel newspapers and many senior IDF commanders and elected officials are calling for Halutz to resign now.

Resign at this very moment without the conclusions of an investigative committee?
If something wrong was performed, where is due process?

As a professional journalist, PR consultant who has worked in crisis communications for 25 years, it sounds more like someone else in government is thinking of their own job security at the wrong time. Thinking of their own personal career over Israel's security.

Israel's war with Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria and Iran is still ongoing. What we have is a fragile cease-fire in place for which Hezbollah has no intention of keeping. Hezbollah, according to UN resolution 1701 had to return kidnapped soldiers. They have not. Hezbollah was supposed to lay down their arms. They refused. Hezbollah was supposed to move out of south Lebanon to positions of north of the Litani River. They remain 50 meters from the Israel northern town of Metulla.

Yet, people are seeking to strip Israel of its control and command at this critical time.

Halutz has broken no laws. He made a simple phone call to his broker as millions of other people made that day. Did Halutz cancel meetings because of this phone call? Did he leave his post? Hey, let's take it one step further did he have sex with his wife that night? Did other elected officials and IDF commanders have sex with their wives that day or night? If so, we should ask all of them to resign as well. For they put their hormones before the security of the state. Can we get more absurd?

Halutz did no wrong. He thought about his family as a responsible father and husband. As the Mossad is famous for saying: "take care of yourself first before you can take care of others." Halutz multi-tasked between work and family. We all do. It is not a crime. It is natural . It should not be mentioned or condemned. In fact, I'm pleased that he cleared his desk of all and any personal concerns.

Halutz has expressed no regret over the timing of the sale, saying he has finances to manage like any other Israeli. "They've turned me into Shylock," said Halutz. What Israeli, what human being does not think about their personal finances? It was not as if Halutz had ran out of the situation room in search of his stock broker.

What worries this writer, is that we now see a pool of calls for Halutz's immediate resignation. Yet, the country is still at war. Hezbollah has rockets right on the Israel border, Gaza is far from quiet, and Syria and Iran have missiles pointed at Tel Aviv.

If a chorus of politicians in Jerusalem and a mass of IDF infantry commanders choose to hang Halutz, do so for his failure (if it is his failure) at the end of the war if he has not secured the return of our kidnapped soldiers. For not stopping a hail of Katushas from pouring on Kiryat Shmona, Haifa and Nahariya. For not pushing Hezbollah north of the Litani. Halutz's decision to rely heavily on air strikes in the first phase of the war (which is a normal, correct strategy in the opening phases of any conflict. It softens up enemy forces for a ground invasion.) To begin a massive ground offensive just as a cease-fire deal was within reach. More than 30 Israeli soldiers died after the U.N. Security Council had already approved the truce deal. Do not attack Halutz for merely being an arrogant IAF combat fighter. That goes with being an Israeli pilot. Nor criticize him for never having driven a tank or steered a submarine.

One must ask the question: "who benefits the most from Halutz resigning right now?"
First, it would be a newspaper called Ma'ariv which is placing its circulation above the security of Israel. And second, some paranoid politicians who are seeking escape goats.
Lastly, our enemies would benefit. Israel has neither won or nor lost this war yet. But with many running to judge in Olympic speed, you would think that the war is over and that we did lose.

Is that the message we choose to send to Hezbollah, Lebanon, Iran and Syria at this hour?

Finish the war. Then investigate all that went wrong. Give IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who was just appointed to chair a commission of inquiry into the army's conduct before and during the war against Hizbullah, some time. Then speak to me about jealousies between IDF ground forces and the Israel Air Force. Or about a phone call to one's broker or a kiss to one's wife.

In a speech to the Israel Knesset, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that "there were mistakes made," and promised that "we will examine everything that needs examination." But he added the caveat that "we won't sink into blame and guilt. We don't have that luxury. We must assure that next time - and there may be a next time - things will be done better."

Yes, many "things" need to be improved. A call to one stock broker is not a "mistake." Lack of proper logistics at the start of the war would be a mistake. Not taking out all of Hezbollah's Katusha launchers (over 200 fell on Israel the day before the cease-fire) would be a mistake. And I can discuss the public relations and media flaws of the IDF Spokesperson's Office for hours. But this is not the time.

Last question. Who gave Ma'ariv a negative story about Israel's Chief of Staff in the middle of a war?
That is the question we should all be asking.