Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz announced Monday that he has decided to approve most of the conclusions of the inquiry headed by Major General Doron Almog into Hezbollah's abduction last July of soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

The IDF chief also decided to reject an appeal by Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, who was the commander of Division 91 at the time of the kidnappings, requesting reconsideration of the panel's recommendation that he be banned from command positions.

Hirsch resigned his post about two weeks ago in protest of Almog's harsh judgments against him. Prior to that, Halutz held a hearing, in which Hirsch argued against Almog's conclusions about him in the presence of several senior officers.

	Advertisement

The presentations to the General Staff forum of the investigations into the second Lebanon war are slated to be completed by the end of the month. Halutz and Almog have met several times since the report was initially submitted on November 12.

In early January, the main findings and conclusions will be presented to Israel Defense Forces officers at the rank of colonel and above. The top brass are waiting anxiously for Halutz's decision regarding his own military future in light of the harsh conclusions of the inquiries (some of which the chief of staff rejects).

Halutz is likely to decide to step down when the conclusions of the internal IDF inquiries are submitted. Another possibility is that he will consider his options only after the interim report of the Winograd Committee is submitted, presumably in February.

Several senior General Staff officers told Haaretz recently, after taking part in the summing-up investigations, that they believe Halutz will have no choice but to retire early. "In light of the extent of the failures that came to light, it's the right thing to do," they said. "Halutz no longer has the commanders' trust. If he truly wants the army to be rehabilitated, he must go."