JERUSALEM, Jan 22: Major General Gabi Ashkenazi has been appointed Israel's army chief of staff after his predecessor quit over the handling of last summer's war in Lebanon, military radio said on Monday.The radio said 52-year-old Ashkenazi was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz. He is currently director general of the defence ministry.

Lieutenant General Dan Halutz quit the post last week over the failures of Israel's war against the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah.

The July-August conflict, launched after Hezbollah fighters seized two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid, failed to achieve either of its stated goals of freeing the men or stopping Hezbollah rocket fire.—AFP