A Kerr cell was utilized as an optical shutter to generate a shortened pulse and as an isolator between amplifiers in an iodine laser system. By rotating the polarization of incident laser pulse only during the timing window of high voltage applied to the Kerr cell, shortened pulses of 5 ns and 1 ns, corresponding to the difference in propagation time of two coaxial cables, were obtained. It was also noticed that more than one timing window of Kerr cell was produced with a long incident laser pulse from the oscillator. The measured transmittance of Kerr cell with respect to applied voltage was compared with the theoretical estimation using the electro-optic Kerr effect theory. Through the amplification of the shortened pulse in iodine amplifiers. a pulse of 0.5 GW(2 J in 4 ns) was obtained. ained.