Yoav Galant
Yoav GalantFlash 90

Kulanu's party platform includes a strong stance on national security, General (ret) Yoav Galant, the #2 candidate on Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu list, stated Tuesday.

"Without military-strong security you cannot do anything here," Galant stated, according to Walla! News, while speaking at the Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem. "Israel must strengthen its ability to defend itself, and we have no choice; Israel must invest in security." 

"Our goal is to reach an agreement with the Palestinians and consensus can only come from a reality that citizens of Israel have more security, not less security," he continued.

Galant added that while he firmly believes in and appreciates the whole state of Israel as the Jewish national homeland, and that "every stone placed here is precious," the state must be "realistic" about its borders for the future.

"We are approaching a state of eight million Palestinians west of the Jordan River," he said. "The right thing is to know how to maintain the most central parts of Israel and be willing to swap away other places - not because we don't love them; I know well the Samaria (Shomron) hills, for example, and I've been there." 

Galant would refuse a divided Jerusalem, however. 

"Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and it will remain united," he said. 

Other party platform points included a gradual reduction in the defense budget. 

Galant's stance seems to differ somewhat from Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon's, who explained in a Walla! News interview last week that he opposes a withdrawal to 1949 Armistice Lines.

"I oppose a return to the '67 borders," he said. "I will support an agreement that includes a united Jerusalem, without 'Right of Return' for Palestinian 'refugees,' with no return to the '67 borders - an agreement strengthens the security of the State of Israel."