Binyamin Netanyahu at ceremony for new F-35 Adir stealth fighter jet
Binyamin Netanyahu at ceremony for new F-35 Adir stealth fighter jetFlash 90

The Prime Minister's Office responded today (Monday) to the report published by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Israel's war preparedness.

"We will study the report, but it is regrettable to hear MKs Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) who were among the report's authors, speak of MK Ofer Shelah's (Yesh Atid) attempt to use the report as a tool for political gain.

"The citizens of Israel know that Prime Minister Netanyahu leads an intelligent defense policy that maintains Israel's security in a stormy Middle East," says the bureau's response.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Avi Dichter (Likud) defended the subcommittee report's conclusions, claiming that the report is apolitical.

"This is a professional report.In those cases that, in my opinion, were written with a political slant, it is different. In the report, we deal with the 'Gideon' Plan.In the five years of the plan, the Knesset allocates about half a trillion shekels by law.Our responsibility as a committee is to enable the public to learn to some degree about which of the things for which this huge budget is allocated are up to par and which are weak.

"Ultimately, when we recommend in the report that the next plan be formulated by the political echelon, this is a purely professional issue.I used to be a member of the cabinet, and I see no problem in giving advice to cabinet members today.I am convinced that the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister will find items that will help them.The report is not political," Dichter said.

He added that "MKs who chose not to sign the public report did sign the secret version. "The entire open report is taken from the confidential one," Dichter said.

The Subcommittee for Defense Doctrine and Force Building of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today published the unclassified section of the report it prepared following publication of the five-year Gideon plan which sought to outline parameters of IDF doctrine.