Halutz Orders Snap Retirement of ‘Rebellious General’, Hanan Greenberg (Ynet)
Commentary;
As reported yesterday on this blog, it seems that General Ron-Tal is the first senior officer to do the right thing — to have spoken out against the expulsion, against the military’s failures in Lebanon, to have called for Halutz’s resignation and to have preemptively resigned prior to being discharged. Ron-Tal loses various retirement funds, benefits and perks which, under threat of loss, serves to keep other senior officers “in line.”
We can only hope that General Ron-Tal’s action inspires others in senior positions to pick up his call for Halutz’s resignation or firing and that the IDF rights itself and returns to it’s previous excellence. MB
Excerpts;
IDF Chief of Staff Lit.-Gen. Dan Halutz on Wednesday ordered a general be immediately dismissed from the standing army for openly criticizing the 2005 disengagement from Gaza and the war in Lebanon.
Halutz sought to meet with Maj.-Gen. Yiftah Ron-Tal over comments made in an interview with a religious magazine, but Ron-Tal ignored the IDF chief’s request citing he is “busy studying.”
Having attempted to reach Ron-Tal by phone, Halutz sent a letter to the Maj.-Gen. ordering him to attend a disciplinary hearing at 6 pm in the evening.
When Ron-Tal failed to show up, Halutz ordered he’d be discharged.
Ron-Tal was completing his studies before retiring from the IDF in two months, but Halutz’s decision effectively sends the Maj.Gen. to retirement earlier than he had planned.
In the interview, Ron-Tal rules that “from a military point of view, this war ended in failure and the chief of staff must take responsibility. The IDF had plans for a wide-scale ground operation in southern Lebanon. One of the big questions which will have to be investigated and inquired is why the IDF did not operate in accordance with those plans and took a hesitant course of action.”
Ron-Tal is convinced that “the only way to reach a completely clear picture is to establish a state commission of inquiry.”
He believes that the chief of staff and all the senior officers, as well as the prime minister himself, must now draw personal conclusions.
Halutz said soldiers and officers are forbidden from making public political statements during service.