Israel's new military chief calls for morality, respect for human life

[Scurrilous]

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200506011718.htm\

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"Israel's new army chief, criticized for his defense of massive aerial force in Gaza, took office on Wednesday with a call for soldiers to uphold morality and respect for human life.

Dan Halutz, 57, a former Air Force chief, outraged Israeli liberals when he endorsed the July 2002 decision to drop a one-ton bomb on the home of a Palestinian militant leader in a densely populated Gaza neighborhood at night, killing the target and 14 sleeping civilians, among them nine children.

In a newspaper interview, he later called the strike "militarily and morally" correct and said he lost no sleep over the incident.

Peace activists on Wednesday protested outside the army's Tel Aviv headquarters, holding placards reading "Nine dead children but Halutz sleeps" and "Chief of staff with blood on his wings," organizers said."