By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Staff
IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz yesterday discharged Major General Yiftah Ron-Tal effective immediately. The unusual step followed Ron-Tal's rare departure from senior officers' customary abstention from public political statements, after he said yesterday that Halutz should take responsibility for the failure of the war with Hezbollah, and leave his post. Ron-Tal, former head of the IDF Ground Forces Command until last November, hinted that he believed that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should step down, as well, and criticized the military's role in last year's disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Ron-Tal was already on formal leave prior to his military retirement, scheduled for the end of the month. However, Ron-Tal was still considered a uniformed officer and therefore continued to receive a military salary.
After Ron-Tal's remarks were broadcast on Army Radio, Halutz's office tried to locate Ron-Tal for several hours in order to summon him for a hearing. Ron-Tal did not return calls and later refused to come in, claiming he was busy with studies, even in response to a direct order from Halutz to report to his office at 6 P.M.
Four hours later, a messenger delivered a formal letter announcing the discharge to Ron-Tal's home. At about the same time, Ron-Tal sent a formal letter of resignation to the chief of staff.
Halutz wrote to Ron-Tal that he encouraged serious criticism, but this should be done in appropriate forums. Halutz reiterated that career officers were expressly forbidden from commenting on political and diplomatic matters and were certainly prohibited from calling for politicians' resignations. Ron-Tal's comments, Halutz wrote, indicate that the major general no longer sees himself serving in the military.
The IDF Spokesman's Office condemned Ron-Tal's remarks in a harshly worded statement early yesterday.
"Those who directed this war must take responsibility," Ron-Tal told Israel Radio in an expression widely used as a euphemism for resignation, which he declined to deny at several points during his remarks.
Ron-Tal said he stood behind remarks he made in an interview with a Chabad weekly, in which he said: "From the military standpoint, the war ended in failure, and the chief of staff, like other senior commanders, should take responsibility."
Ron-Tal yesterday stood behind his comments to the Chabad publication. He called the decision to have the IDF implement the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip "a serious mistake, for which we are still paying the price." Carrying out the disengagement harmed the army's training program and its readiness for the war with Hezbollah, he said.
Ron-Tal dismissed suggestions that his remarks were inappropriate for a soldier in uniform, citing his formal leave.
But the IDF Spokesman's Office said in response, "it is improper for an officer on retirement leave and receiving a salary from from the IDF to criticize politicians. The matter is graver still in view of the fact that the major general was a member of the General Staff and was a partner to all the processes and the decisions, among them the disengagement."
IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz yesterday discharged Major General Yiftah Ron-Tal effective immediately. The unusual step followed Ron-Tal's rare departure from senior officers' customary abstention from public political statements, after he said yesterday that Halutz should take responsibility for the failure of the war with Hezbollah, and leave his post. Ron-Tal, former head of the IDF Ground Forces Command until last November, hinted that he believed that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should step down, as well, and criticized the military's role in last year's disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Ron-Tal was already on formal leave prior to his military retirement, scheduled for the end of the month. However, Ron-Tal was still considered a uniformed officer and therefore continued to receive a military salary.
After Ron-Tal's remarks were broadcast on Army Radio, Halutz's office tried to locate Ron-Tal for several hours in order to summon him for a hearing. Ron-Tal did not return calls and later refused to come in, claiming he was busy with studies, even in response to a direct order from Halutz to report to his office at 6 P.M.
Four hours later, a messenger delivered a formal letter announcing the discharge to Ron-Tal's home. At about the same time, Ron-Tal sent a formal letter of resignation to the chief of staff.
Halutz wrote to Ron-Tal that he encouraged serious criticism, but this should be done in appropriate forums. Halutz reiterated that career officers were expressly forbidden from commenting on political and diplomatic matters and were certainly prohibited from calling for politicians' resignations. Ron-Tal's comments, Halutz wrote, indicate that the major general no longer sees himself serving in the military.
The IDF Spokesman's Office condemned Ron-Tal's remarks in a harshly worded statement early yesterday.
"Those who directed this war must take responsibility," Ron-Tal told Israel Radio in an expression widely used as a euphemism for resignation, which he declined to deny at several points during his remarks.
Ron-Tal said he stood behind remarks he made in an interview with a Chabad weekly, in which he said: "From the military standpoint, the war ended in failure, and the chief of staff, like other senior commanders, should take responsibility."
Ron-Tal yesterday stood behind his comments to the Chabad publication. He called the decision to have the IDF implement the 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip "a serious mistake, for which we are still paying the price." Carrying out the disengagement harmed the army's training program and its readiness for the war with Hezbollah, he said.
Ron-Tal dismissed suggestions that his remarks were inappropriate for a soldier in uniform, citing his formal leave.
But the IDF Spokesman's Office said in response, "it is improper for an officer on retirement leave and receiving a salary from from the IDF to criticize politicians. The matter is graver still in view of the fact that the major general was a member of the General Staff and was a partner to all the processes and the decisions, among them the disengagement."
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