Dan Halutz

Dan Halutz (Hebrew: דן חלוץ‬, listen ; born August 7, 1948) is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and commander of the Israeli Air Force. Halutz served as Chief of Staff in 2005-2007. 2Biography Dan Halutz was born in Tel Aviv and grew up on Moshav Hagor.He comes from a Mizrahi Jewish family with origins in Iran and Iraq. Halutz holds a degree in economics from Tel Aviv University, and a Harvard Business School degree. He is chairman of the Etgarim special-needs charity. 2Military career Halutz joined the Israeli Air Force (IAF) in 1966 and graduated from combat flight school in 1968. In 1969, he joined the first F-4 Phantom squadron of the IAF. During the War of Attrition, Halutz carried out 40 operational flights. After the war, he left the IDF in order to study, but returned to active duty when the Yom Kippur War started, in 1973. During the war, Halutz flew over 43 operational flights, shooting down three enemy planes in dogfights. In 1978, he left the IDF again and served as a reserve pilot for four year