'Butcher of Gaza' annoys Arabs

Yoav Galant (The Butcher of Gaza), Israeli Defense Minister
Ehud Barak's choice for the future chief of general staff


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139845.html


Many Arab outlets wail at Israel's choice of next military chief, Yoav Galant, who is known as the 'butcher of Gaza' for commanding a deadly war on the strip.

Pending approval by Tel Aviv, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has appointed Major General Yoav Galant to succeed the current holder of the position, Gabi Ashkenazi. The move was also welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Galant oversaw the January 2008-December 2009 Israeli offensives on the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, inflicting a damage of above $1.6 billion on the impoverished enclave's economy.

On Monday, media outlets in the Arab world either expressed disapproval of the nomination or greeted it with derision, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported.

The agency said the Lebanese broadcaster al-Manar TV had referred to Galant as a "war criminal."

The military leader's enlistment with the Israel Defense Forces began in 1977, the Israeli website Ynetnews said.

He, however, left Israel for Alaska to work as lumberjack, it said. Several websites seized upon the matter, calling Galant "woodcutter."