The repeat of 1967?

In the summer of 1967, Israel found itself in trouble: the Egyptians had closed the Straits of Tiran, expelled UN forces from the Sinai and mobilized a massive amount of troops on its border with Israel. Calls of war echoed from the direction of then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Damascus and numerous other places. The prime minister at the time, Levi Eshkol, made a move: he offered the leader of the opposition, Menahem Begin, to join his government.

At that time, Begin was considered an outcast by the establishment that ruled in Israel since the moment it was founded. Begin had failed to win over the Israeli voter in 5 consecutive election campaigns. Eshkol's willingness to bring in his and his party's most bitter ideological enemy to lead the government was a testament to the intense feeling of urgency that spread across the public. For the first time in Israel, there was a national unity government in power. Opponents who, for decades, did not say one word to each other now sat side by side on the Defense Committee and forged a shared defense plan.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (12)

The next challenge

The NIE report regarding the Iran nuclear situation published at the end of last year caused an international storm. The US president, the Israeli prime minister, European and Asian leaders, intelligence agencies and media centers - all attributed supreme importance to the document and proceeded to analyze its meaning.

This is not surprising in and of itself: the possibility that Iran is developing a nuclear program, the possibility that significant economic and political pressure will be applied on Iran; the possibility that the campaign to stop Iran's nuclear program will fail; the possibility that attacking Iran's nuclear sites will provoke a counter-attack; these are all scenarios that have intensely occupied the minds of decision-makers around the world in the Middle East and for world powers such as the US, China, the UK, France and Germany equally. The NIE report was bound to have an impact, direct or indirect, on the scenarios above - and has therefore generated such resonance.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (3)

Objective: Topple Hamas

During the past few weeks, there have been numerous active public discussions about the steps that need to be undertaken to stop the Kassam rockets from falling on residents in the Gaza periphery.

One of the ministers proposes to "wipe out a designated neighborhood" to make an example of. Another minister proposes to permanently halt electricity and gas supplies to Gaza. Yet another minister sides with going for a large-scale military operation in Gaza - a move that would see Israel in complete control of Gaza by the end.

Knesset members are encouraging a renewed Israeli grasp on the border between Egypt and Gaza in order to minimize the smuggling of weapons and ammunition into Palestinian territory. An opposite view is held by MKs who prefer direct talks with Hamas to fulfill the need for a long-term ceasefire. Another proposal suggests the use of international assistance of bodies such as NATO and the UN whose presence in the region would 'separate' between the sides.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (13)

Attempts to taint FADC war report will fail

The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee's report on the Second Lebanon War numbers 151 pages. The committee worked hard to complete it for over a year; hundreds of hours of discussions, tours and meetings were invested into it; all military investigations of IDF operations and government and cabinet meeting protocols were analyzed in preparation; dozens of officers and reservists were invited to the discussions to detail their takes and experiences during the battles.

The final result is a thoroughly detailed document that strives to describe the war from a balanced perspective. Not everything is dark, not everything is superficial, clear-cut and sensational. There were failures and there were achievements. There were incorrect decisions made and there were courageous rulings.

Not in vain was the document signed by all the committee members, 17 in total from 9 different political factions from the Coalition and the Opposition. Granted, many of them had remarks and reservations about certain conclusions appearing in the report. Nevertheless, the lion's share of the findings, the conclusions and the recommendations were agreed to by complete consensus.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (7)

The moment of truth is approaching

In November 2006, when I held a ministerial position in Ariel Sharon's government and was responsible, among other things, for strategic dialogue with the US, I stood at the head of the Israeli delegation preparing for a meeting in Washington.

As is customary, prior to our departure to the US, the delegation was called in for a final briefing with Prime Minister Sharon. We presented to him a list of topics that were on our agenda to be discussed in the US.

We described in detail the Israeli positions as consolidated in discussions by our team, composed of senior officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Prime Minister's Office, the Defense Ministry, the IDF and the Mossad.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (2)