Wednesday, November 19, 2008

'Land for Peace is Land for War'


Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu 'Land for Peace is Land for War'

Moshe Ya'alon, a former IDF Chief of Staff who this week joined the Likud party, declared Wednesday morning that the "land for peace" policy he once backed has proven that giving up Jewish land to Arabs brings war. He once stated that Israel could defend itself without the Golan Heights, which outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has proposed giving to Syria. Ya'alon told Yaron Dekel, host of the It's All Talk Show on Voice of Israel government radio, "I was a believer in land for peace, but I have learned the past 15 years... it deteriorates our security."

Ya'alon was Chief of Staff during the government of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who made the unprecedented move of not extending his term of office because of Ya'alon's doubts about the plan to destroy all Jewish presence in the Gaza region and withdraw all IDF troops.

He said that the expulsion and the withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, now Defense Minister, left Israel with Kassam and Grad attacks on the south and the Second Lebanon War in the north.

Ya'alon, who lives on a Kibbutz, explained that the values he grew up with no longer are represented in political parties he once identified with..

Referring to Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, Ya'alon said that if he were alive today, he "would not choose Labor, Meretz or Kadima."

The new Likud member admitted that the decision to move into politics was not easy. "My heart said 'no' and my head said 'yes", he told reporters Tuesday. "The head won."

He explained Wednesday morning that he and his family will pay a heavy price for his entering politics, a path that is strewn with booby traps for the values he holds. "We need leadership in the face of the security, education and economic crises," he explained.

Asked if he wants to be Prime Minister, Ya'alon replied, "It is not an obsession. I did not even want to be an Army officer. I know people who wanted to be Prime Minister from the day they were born, but I am not one of them."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There will always be differences and reason for war...it's just and ongoing cycle, that will never end.

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GS Don Morris, Ph.D./Chana Givon said...

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