Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz resigned, the military reported early Wednesday, yielding to demands that he should leave following Israel's failure in the summer war against Hizbullah. Halutz's move intensified the pressure on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to step down.
Halutz had acknowledged the shortcomings, but had earlier resisted pressure to resign. The Israeli military said Wednesday that Halutz decided to quit now that dozens of military inquiries into various aspects of the war had been concluded. "Now that this process has been completed, the chief of staff has asked to resign immediately," the military said in a brief statement. None of the inquiries concluded he should quit or be dismissed, the AP reported.
Halutz left hours after the Justice Ministry ordered police to launch a criminal investigation into Olmert's conduct in the sale of Israel's second-largest bank before he became prime minister last year.
