The charismatic, no-nonsense Halutz was sworn in on Wednesday, two months before Israel's potentially explosive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip may unleash a storm of Palestinian attacks and ultra-nationalist Israeli violence.

On the morning the 56-year-old took office, his predecessor General Moshe Yaalon warned of the dangers of the historic disengagement plan and, without further concessions, the possibility of an renewed Palestinian uprising.

But while Halutz's first task will be the Gaza Strip pullout, speculation has already begun to focus on how he will tackle what the political establishment now regards as Israel's biggest strategic threat -- Iran.

Chosen by Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, Haalutz is the first man with an air force background to be chosen as chief of staff in the history of the Jewish state. He is also of Iranian origin.

Consequently, observers have called him the ideal man in charge for any potential air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom underlined the sense of urgency in February when he claimed that Iran was only six months away from having the knowledge to build a nuclear bomb.

Mofaz himself has said Iran is at "the point of no-return" in developing a nuclear arsenal. Former education minister Shulamit Aloni interpreted the choice of Halutz as "proof that Mofaz intends to bomb Iran".

Military sources say the air force is already training for long-distance bombing raids and in 1981, Israeli jets destroyed an Iraqi nuclear power station at Osirak, outside Baghdad.

"The army will be ready for any mission against threats near and far, on land, at sea and in the air," declared Halutz during his investiture ceremony in Jerusalem.

Israel opposes any chance of Iran acquiring a nuclear arsenal that could distort the region's balance of power. The Jewish state has never admitted to having atomic weapons, but is thought to have around 200 nuclear warheads.

Halutz himself courted controversy for overseeing a July 2002 bombing raid targeting a senior Hamas leader in which 15 civilians were killed.

He later said he told the crew of the plane which dropped the one-tonne bomb that they "can sleep well at night... Your execution was perfect."

"I reject any criticism of the operation. It is indeed regrettable that innocent children were killed, but those who murder children in Israel must know that children that live among them can be hit," Halutz added.

The interview prompted a rights group to petition the high court to reverse his appointment as deputy chief of staff.

Born in Tel Aviv in 1948, the same year that the modern Jewish state was created, he graduated from Tel Aviv University with a degree in economics.

He was drafted in 1966 and trained as a fighter pilot, rising rapidly through the ranks and seeing active service in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Halutz served as commander of the air force from 2000 to 2004, when he was appointed deputy chief of staff. He is married and the father of three.

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