Israel Matzav

Former IDF Chief Ya'alon: "Israel's Leaders Selling Illusions"

The longtime warrior drew a comparison between the events leading up to the Holocaust and the present, comparing Ehud Olmert to Neville Chamberlain. "We look back to what the West experienced before World War Two. There was denial of reality, denial of threat. The attitude was, 'Let's leave it to next year, to the next generation,' "Ya'alon said. "We don't need Chamberlains, we need Churchills. We are flooded with lies, manipulated by Al Qaeda, but, most prominently, by the Palestinians."

Ya'alon spoke at Manhattan's Lincoln Square Synagogue last Monday, registering harsh criticism of Israel's leadership for offering "illusions" to the Israeli people. Ya'alon was Chief of Staff up until just before the implementation of Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan, of which his criticism was well known. His tenure was not extended and he was replaced with the current COS, Dan Halutz.

The retired general criticized the notion of withdrawing from parts of Judea and Samaria, in addition to the building of the Partition Wall, which he believes is an illusion in terms of security. "The best defense is a good offense, not a fence," he said. "The best way to deal with terrorists is to arrest them or kill them in their beds. The IDF has intelligence capability to intercept terrorists. They use their civilians as human shields, knowing our sensitivities to killing civilians – but we do have the capability to intercept them in real time. Without dealing with the roots, we can cut down the weeds – to deal with the roots would be to force them to reform their education and culture. I am not sure we will succeed but we should be under no pressure to make any concessions until this change."

The former Chief of Staff says that not only did the Disengagement propel the Hamas terror group to a landslide victory in PA elections earlier this year, but “what we are doing is leaving a legacy for the next generation who will deal with Palestinians who believe that terrorism pays, that Israel cuts and runs under pressure,” Ya’alon explained. He said that at this point, when Kassam missiles are already falling regularly on Israeli towns, "we must stop getting used to these constant missile attacks as if they are rain. We can’t tolerate this missile threat from Gaza or continued terrorism…We must step up military actions in Gaza despite the problems of not being able to have laser-like accuracy against the terrorists there."

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Ya'alon takes issue with the assumption that creating a Palestinian State is anything but dangerous for the Jewish state. "From the dawn of Zionism until this day, the source of all terrorist attacks has been the refusal of the Arab world to recognize Israel’s existence. Until this changes we will remain the target of violent terrorist activity. The ‘67 borders are neither a solution to rocket attacks, suicide bombs nor to more conventional forms of warfare," he said. "The two-state solution has failed and to my mind is now irrelevant. Even before the Hamas victory, a two-state solution was a mistaken fantasy - now it's even more irrelevant. The Palestinians knew exactly who Hamas was when they voted for them."

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:55 PM