Dan Halutz

Dan Halutz (דן חלוץ, ; born August 7, 1948) is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force.

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 war, Halutz flew over 43 operational flights, shooting down three enemy planes in dogfights.

In 1978, he left the IDF again and served as a reserve pilot for four years.

He returned to active 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 commander of the Israeli Air Force.

Serving in this position, Halutz implemented changes that 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.

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.

During his term, the IAF took part in several 'targeted killing' operations of Palestinian militant leaders.

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, none of them lethal.

Moreover, he held a record of a straight 2.5 years with a clean slate of no accidents at all.

On the night of July 23, 2002, an IAF warplane dropped a one-ton bomb on a Gaza apartment building where senior Hamas commander Salah Shahade was sleeping together with his wife and family.

In 2004, he was appointed deputy chief of staff.

Halutz served as chief of staff in 2005–2007.

Halutz was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and grew up on moshav Hagor.

His parents are both Mizrahi Jewish, and they were born in Iran and in Iraq.

Halutz holds a degree in economics from Tel Aviv University, and a Harvard Business School degree.

He is chairman of the Etgarim special-needs charity.

On February 23, 2005, Israeli defence minister Shaul Mofaz announced that Halutz would be the next IDF chief of staff.

On June 1, 2005, Halutz was officially appointed the eighteenth chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and was awarded 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 became the head of the entire military.

General Chaim Laskov was the first.

On January 17, 2007, Halutz resigned from office, following a critical report from former chief of staff Dan Shomron.

Halutz stated that he made the decision "based on deep-rooted values, those of strong ethics, loyalty to the organization and integrity."

"I served the army responsibly for over four decades, and this responsibility continued in the last few months. It is this responsibility that led me to announce my resignation."

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 militants within minutes after being provided intelligence from the Shabak.

The targeted killings policy has become identified to a large degree with Halutz himself.

Brig. Gen (res.) Iftach Spector, past commander of the Ramat David Airbase and the Tel Nof Airbase, accused Halutz of encouraging a culture within the IDF of compromising one's principles, citing among other things the targeted killings policy.