Israelis seem quite certain that their military chief of staff, Dan Halutz, has a thing or two to learn about managing a war — but, according to media reports, it turns out he knows how to manage his stocks during a war:

As the country’s political and military echelons met urgently to discuss the possible declaration of war, Halutz went at 12:00 P.M. to sell an investment portfolio, the Ma’ariv newspaper reported on Tuesday.In response to the report, Halutz confirmed to Ma’ariv that he sold the portfolio on that date and at that time, but denied it had anything to do with the possibility of an imminent war. The IDF chief said he sold the portfolio because of recent losses he took prior to July 12.

“It was my portfolio of shares, on which I had lost NIS 25,000,” Halutz told Maariv. “It is true that I sold the portfolio on July 12, 2006, but it is impossible to link that to the war. At the time I did not expect or think that there would be a war.”

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Halutz described the Ma’ariv article exposing the affair as “malicious and tendentious — I don’t intend to be dragged down to such a low level and blemish my integrity. I am a citizen too and have my own economic affairs. This has stained [my reputation] for no reason and is unworthy of any further comment.”

It’s hard to imagine how Halutz manages to hang on to his job — either he was dumping stock in the middle of a war or he was completely clueless to the fact that a war was taking place.

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