Retired Major-General Yiftah Ron-Tal, the former commander of the IDF ground forces, said Monday that IDF troops should not have participated in the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif. In a speech at the fourth annual Jerusalem Conference, Ron-Tal explained that the IDF is the army of the people, and as such should not have been involved in such a controversial act.
Ron-Tal was dismissed from the IDF after 33 years of service after criticizing the expulsion from Gaza and the failures made in the 2006 war with Hizbullah. Ron-Tal said then that the expulsion had a serious negative impact on the army’s combat capabilities. He was fired two months prior to retirement.
The Jerusalem Conference, run by Arutz-7's weekly B'Sheva newspaper, began Monday morning and will continue until Wednesday. It can be watched live, with English translation or in the original Hebrew at the following url:
http://www.media-line.co.il/live-jc.html