Court to hear petition against Dan Halutz

High Court Justice Asher Grunis ruled yesterday that the Yesh Gvul movement's petition against Chief of Staff Dan Halutz will be heard by a three-justice panel. Grunis' decision came less than a week after Haaretz reported that the justice has been holding up the handling of the case for almost two years.

"Without the publication, the handling of the case would not have moved forward; we could have waited a lot more time still," the petitioners commented on hearing the decision.

In September 2003, Yesh Gvul filed a petition against the military advocate general and the attorney general, demanding the opening of a criminal investigation into then Israel Air Force commander Halutz.

The demand for the criminal investigation came in the wake of the July 2002 targeted killing of Salah Shehadeh by dropping a one-ton bomb on a residential neighborhood of the Gaza Strip. Shehadeh and 14 innocent bystanders were killed.

Frustrated by their fruitless efforts to initiate a criminal investigation into Halutz, Yesh Gvul petitioned the High Court; but the petition landed on the desk of Grunis, who decided to freeze its handling until the resolution of additional petitions.

Yesterday, Grunis ruled briefly: "The petition will be heard by a three-justice panel."

Yesh Gvul activist Yoav Hess was very pleased with the decision. "I hope the justices convene to deliberate the petition within a shorter time than the time that has already passed since its submission," he said. "I have no doubt that without the publication, we could have waited a whole lot longer still."