Air Force Commander Major-General Ido Nehushtan, like his senior infantry colleagues, does not believe that the counter-terror offensive in Gaza is for subordinates alone and he too took part in an F-16 sortie against Hamas targets.

It appears that this operation has taken an entirely different character than the Second Lebanon War, when then Chief of Staff Dan Halutz sat in the war room surrounded by his senior commanders, observing the war on plasma screens and directing troops from a distance.

In addition to the air force commander, last week YWN reported IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi put on his combat gear and entered Gaza, as did Southern District Commander Major-General Yoav Gallant. Ashkenazi has ordered commanders into the field to take part in the operation and to involve themselves in the actual events, not to observe from a distance. This is more in line with IDF tradition, which was changed by Halutz, the only-ever IDF commander taken from the air force instead of from ground forces.

Also to be found in Gaza with their soldiers are Paratroops Brigade commander Colonel Hertzi Levy and Golani Brigade commander Avi Peled, who was lightly wounded, and commander of the 401st Brigade Colonel Yigal Slovak.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)