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Israel's New Defense Minister's Outlook

(Al-Monitor) Mazal Mualem - Former IDF chief of staff Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon said during the election campaign, "To my regret, I supported the Oslo Agreements. But as head of military intelligence, the full picture was revealed to me and I understood that the more land we concede, the more we put people at risk. This is our history. Every time a proposal was raised to partition the land, the other side started a war. Every time we expressed willingness to give up territory, terror rose to new heights." Ya'alon denies the underlying premise that the fundamental conflict existing between Israel and the Palestinians is territorial in nature, and that a return to the 1967 lines will bring an end to the conflict. "Even in Oslo, late Palestinian Chairperson Arafat viewed the return of territory as only one stage in his doctrine of stages. Whoever understands this can also explain why Palestinian President Abu Mazen [Abbas] does not want to reach the negotiating table," Ya'alon said last week. Discussing relations with the U.S., he said, "We had a difficult period at the beginning of the term of office. We heard all kinds of things from the administration that caused disagreements and disputes. For example, they told us that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is a source of instability in the Middle East. I don't think that there are many who still say things like that. They understood that not everything that happens in the Middle East is because of us." Regarding Iran, he said, "The military option is the last option. Before that, we must exhaust all other means and prepare for all scenarios. After all, if we are not for ourselves, who else will be for us?"
2013-03-22 00:00:00
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