Israeli army chief sold stocks hours before war

[tocqueville]

24 minutes ago

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel's army chief Dan Halutz reportedly offloaded his stock portfolio hours before the Jewish state unleashed a massive offensive in Lebanon and the stock market tumbled.

According to the Maariv daily, Halutz sold the shares at noon on July 12, three hours after two soldiers were seized by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid and as Israeli artillery began to pound the positions of the Shiite militia in Lebanon, the paper said.

Israel's main TA-25 index slumped by 8.3 percent over two days from July 12.

Halutz confirmed that he sold his shares for 120,000 shekels (26,000 dollars) and said he lost 5,400 dollars in the transaction.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060816/wl_afp/mideastconflictisrael

[AlamoDemoc]

1. I wonder why he did it....n/t

[MadMaddie]

2. Because he knew exactly the damage they were going to

inflict on Lebanon.....

[scarletwoman]

3. k&r - I hope you will add your thoughts to my own thread on this story:

IDF Chief of Staff Halutz under investigation for prewar stock transaction

sw

[tocqueville]

6. I support your comment Scarletwoman

The more I have discussed those issues on DU I understand more and more that many liberals and progressives haven't a full insight in the Israeli question. Neither have I, but I think that the fact that Europe gives access to BOTH sides in the debate increases the chances to have a more balanced opinion.

A post I had about the US media shows that the coverage over there is not even bad, it's appalling, it's one- sided propaganda. No doubt that a lot of people are confused. I think it was a great idea to let the discussion become free on GD so that many could shape their own opinion. I hope it will stay like this.

Sorry if this is a dupe, I just saw it pop up on Yahoo. I missed it on Haaretz that I check regularly.

[scarletwoman]

8. Please don't apologize for this being a dupe. Every effort must be made

to wake people up to the truth.

There is an extremely corrupt and amoral overclass that exercises an inordinate amount of control over this planet. It is high time we stop accepting this as inevitable.

I am someone who is way over the edge, and I make no apologies for it. The fate of this planet is currently in the hands of a tiny clique of madmen. We, the common people of mother earth should not have to accept this. There are more of us than them. The first step is to shake people out of their hypnotized state.

This is becoming increasingly urgent. Millions of lives -- the very biosphere that supports us all -- are at stake. We must no longer passively accept the ruination of our home by power-crazed sociopaths.

sw

[bluedeminredstate]

4. In the same vein,

I'd like to know who in the UK and US might have traded in Airline stocks in the days before this latest plot was unleashed. I've thought about it since it was a factor in the 9/11 investigation and there was money made on selling short.

This Israeli Army dude has some explaining to do. Why sell if he was going to lose money? Definitely fishy...

:shrug:

[tocqueville]

7. sometimes you sell to minimize the damage n/t

[orpupilofnature57]

5. Cheney could show him , how to make that look heroic!

[mogster]

9. Amazing

Inside trading - with a twist.