IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon strenuously denies reports headlined in today's Israeli press that he said that most Yesha communities would, in the end, be dismantled. He said today that such reports about his remarks at a closed forum in Washington last week are a "total distortion" of his words.
Yaalon explained that as Chief of Staff, "I would not relate to Israeli positions, but only to the way the other side sees us… I said that at the Barak-Arafat-Clinton talks in Camp David in June 2000, the Palestinians understood that the Israeli side expressed a willingness to evacuate most of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria," yet still did not agree to sign a peace agreement and soon afterwards began a war. The IDF Spokeswoman added today that the Chief of Staff was responding to a question about the dismantling of settlements - implying that his answer was that even if Israel were to agree to dismantle most Yesha settlements, it would not lead to an Arab agreement to live with Israel in peace.
Yaalon also said that he did not call for the expulsion of Arafat - something that Prime Minister Sharon has so far refused to do - but rather for "killing him softly." He said that as long as Arafat is still functioning, we will have a problem stopping terrorism and reaching an agreement.
Yaalon explained that as Chief of Staff, "I would not relate to Israeli positions, but only to the way the other side sees us… I said that at the Barak-Arafat-Clinton talks in Camp David in June 2000, the Palestinians understood that the Israeli side expressed a willingness to evacuate most of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria," yet still did not agree to sign a peace agreement and soon afterwards began a war. The IDF Spokeswoman added today that the Chief of Staff was responding to a question about the dismantling of settlements - implying that his answer was that even if Israel were to agree to dismantle most Yesha settlements, it would not lead to an Arab agreement to live with Israel in peace.
Yaalon also said that he did not call for the expulsion of Arafat - something that Prime Minister Sharon has so far refused to do - but rather for "killing him softly." He said that as long as Arafat is still functioning, we will have a problem stopping terrorism and reaching an agreement.