IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon granted an interview to Ari Shavit of Ha'aretz, which was published today. A Makor Rishon analyst noted that the terms "People of Israel" and "Nation of Israel" flowed off his tongue in a refreshingly spontaneous way. Excerpts:
"If the concept 'conquest' [referring to Israel's presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza] ever had any relevance, it lost it as far as I'm concerned in the year 2000. Israel presented a proposal that was supposed to remove the Palestinians from off our back, but instead [of getting off], they started stabbing us… I [therefore] maintain that the story is not 'conquest,' but rather the lack of recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State.
"The Palestinians have three stories. Their narrative in Arabic is one of mobilization for a war of jihad, non-recognition of Israel's right to exist, rejection of any attachment between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, and mobilization of the Palestinian people for a war with the goal of bringing about Israel's collapse. In English, the story is different: occupation, colonialism, apartheid. Those are completely irrelevant terms, which are intended to furnish the Western world with familiar terminology that clarifies who the good guys are here and who the bad guys are.
"In Hebrew, they have a third story: the peace of the brave. But I know the details and I say that Arafat… saw Oslo as a Trojan horse that allowed the Palestinian Authority people to enter the country, and Sept. 2000 was the date that they came out of the horse. Today, as well, the ideology of Fatah is to cause the State of Israel to disintegrate from within. They do not want to 'end the conflict,' but rather to turn Israel into a Palestinian state…"
Asked whether Oslo was a mistake, Yaalon said,
"You can't speak in terms of a mistake or not a mistake… After what we have gone through in the last nine years, I have many less question marks and more exclamation points. For me, ethical clarity has been created."
Dismantling Yesha settlements and unilateral Israeli withdrawals are
"dangerous moves [that will] give the Palestinians strength to continue… I said this when the question of withdrawing from Joseph's Tomb arose. It was clear to me that leaving the Tomb would just give the Palestinians a push. Whoever thought that leaving the site would neutralize a point of friction was thinking like an Israeli, not like a Palestinian… Every withdrawal under violence and terrorism will only strengthen the way of violence and terrorism, and will endanger us." He agreed that even if a large military force is sometimes required to protect an isolated town, a much larger force would have to be kept there if the town were to be dismantled."
He said that the proposed partition wall separating the Arab-populated areas of Yesha from the rest of Israel "will not solve all the problems… If I had that money, I would invest it somewhere else."
"The key point here is the staying power of the Israeli society. That is the most important factor that is being put to the test at this time, and will continue to be put to the test in the near future. That is what the campaign is about. When the Palestinians initiated the confrontation, their evaluation was that Israel would not be able to withstand even a few dozen casualties. They were surprised. Operation Defensive Shield showed them that they were dealing not with a spider web, but with a tiger. But if they see cracks and a chance of [Israel's] disintegration, a prospect of Israeli capitulation, that achievement will be erased...
"We must understand: The Palestinians have returned us to the War of Independence. Today it is clear that the State of Israel as a Jewish state is still an alien element in the region. It will take generations until various elements in the region accept its existence. Therefore, we have to go back to the ethos of standing fast, not because I am enamored of that ethos, but because there is no choice. It is an ethos of no choice."
"If the concept 'conquest' [referring to Israel's presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza] ever had any relevance, it lost it as far as I'm concerned in the year 2000. Israel presented a proposal that was supposed to remove the Palestinians from off our back, but instead [of getting off], they started stabbing us… I [therefore] maintain that the story is not 'conquest,' but rather the lack of recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State.
"The Palestinians have three stories. Their narrative in Arabic is one of mobilization for a war of jihad, non-recognition of Israel's right to exist, rejection of any attachment between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel, and mobilization of the Palestinian people for a war with the goal of bringing about Israel's collapse. In English, the story is different: occupation, colonialism, apartheid. Those are completely irrelevant terms, which are intended to furnish the Western world with familiar terminology that clarifies who the good guys are here and who the bad guys are.
"In Hebrew, they have a third story: the peace of the brave. But I know the details and I say that Arafat… saw Oslo as a Trojan horse that allowed the Palestinian Authority people to enter the country, and Sept. 2000 was the date that they came out of the horse. Today, as well, the ideology of Fatah is to cause the State of Israel to disintegrate from within. They do not want to 'end the conflict,' but rather to turn Israel into a Palestinian state…"
Asked whether Oslo was a mistake, Yaalon said,
"You can't speak in terms of a mistake or not a mistake… After what we have gone through in the last nine years, I have many less question marks and more exclamation points. For me, ethical clarity has been created."
Dismantling Yesha settlements and unilateral Israeli withdrawals are
"dangerous moves [that will] give the Palestinians strength to continue… I said this when the question of withdrawing from Joseph's Tomb arose. It was clear to me that leaving the Tomb would just give the Palestinians a push. Whoever thought that leaving the site would neutralize a point of friction was thinking like an Israeli, not like a Palestinian… Every withdrawal under violence and terrorism will only strengthen the way of violence and terrorism, and will endanger us." He agreed that even if a large military force is sometimes required to protect an isolated town, a much larger force would have to be kept there if the town were to be dismantled."
He said that the proposed partition wall separating the Arab-populated areas of Yesha from the rest of Israel "will not solve all the problems… If I had that money, I would invest it somewhere else."
"The key point here is the staying power of the Israeli society. That is the most important factor that is being put to the test at this time, and will continue to be put to the test in the near future. That is what the campaign is about. When the Palestinians initiated the confrontation, their evaluation was that Israel would not be able to withstand even a few dozen casualties. They were surprised. Operation Defensive Shield showed them that they were dealing not with a spider web, but with a tiger. But if they see cracks and a chance of [Israel's] disintegration, a prospect of Israeli capitulation, that achievement will be erased...
"We must understand: The Palestinians have returned us to the War of Independence. Today it is clear that the State of Israel as a Jewish state is still an alien element in the region. It will take generations until various elements in the region accept its existence. Therefore, we have to go back to the ethos of standing fast, not because I am enamored of that ethos, but because there is no choice. It is an ethos of no choice."