Personal Investment Portfolio

A few hours after the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers and in the midst of discussions over whether to launch military operations in Lebanon, the chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, decided to sell off his personal investment portfolio, Maariv reported Tuesday morning.

According to the report, Halutz spoke to his investment broker about three hours after the Hizbullah cross-border raid, and asked him to sell all the assets in his portfolio, valued at about NIS 120,000. In the two days that followed, the Tel Aviv exchange dropped by about 8%.

Responding to the report, Halutz said "at that point I did not think or expect there would be a war."

Update: How convenient. Now they can fire him without having to mention the war he just lost.

Senior sources in the Israel Defense Forces General Staff and field officers who took part in the war in Lebanon said on Tuesday that Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, who went to his bank branch and sold an NIS 120,000 investment portfolio only three hours after two soldiers were abducted by Hezbollah on the northern border, cannot escape resignation.

The sources say there is a clear ethical flaw in the chief of staff's behavior during the hours when soldiers were killed in Lebanon and others were attempting to rescue wounded. Halutz should resign the moment the military completes its pullout from south Lebanon, they said.

At this stage, it does not appear that Halutz intends to resign of his own accord.