New York – In an interview with Israel’s Ha’Aretz newspaper, outgoing Israel Defense Forces Chief General Moshe Ya’alon said that following the Gaza evacuation and removal of 9,000 Jews from their homes, he expects “there will be an eruption. Terrorist attacks of all types: shooting, bombs, suicide bombers, mortars, Quassam rockets…there is a high probability of a second war of terror which will begin in the West Bank.”
When Ya’alon was asked whether he believes that following the Gaza evacuation Kfar Saba’s situation will be like the terrible situation in Sderot today, he responded: “and Tel Aviv and Jerusalem too. There will be suicide bombings wherever they can perpetrate them.” He added, “The disengagement will not create a situation of stability. Therefore, I do not rule out the possibility that the Army will return to the Gaza Strip at some point.”
Ya’alon also said about prospects for the withdrawal, “it is too soon to talk about the withdrawal as a fait accompli “If and when we complete the move, we will talk about a fait accompli.”
Last March, Ya’alon said that “this disengagement plan will blow up in our faces.” Part of his concern stems from his belief that “the lesson that terrorism will not pay must be seared onto the Palestinians’ minds.”
General Ya’alon was also asked about his views on the establishment of a Palestinian state. He said that “the establishment of a Palestinian state would lead to war, and such a war could be dangerous for Israel. The idea that a Palestinian state can be established by 2008, and will then produce stability is divorced from reality and dangerous and will be a state that will try to undermine Israel.”
He also commented on the present situation by saying, “For the Palestinians, it is still convenient to maintain a gang-based reality rather than a State foundation.
“When the PA permits Hamas to take part in the elections without abandoning its firearms, is that democracy? Its gang, armed gangs playing at pretend democracy. If Fatah continues to behave as it does now, Hamas will eventually take over the Gaza Strip.”
When Ya’alon was asked about the general concept of a “2-state solution,” he said, “In the present reality, I see difficulty in producing a stable situation of end-of-conflict within that paradigm.
“A two-state solution is simply not relevant. It is a story that the western world tells with western eyes. And that story does not comprehend the scale of the gap and the scale of the problem. We, in Israel, are also sweeping it under the rug.”
Ya’alon also expressed deep concern about his belief that “PA chief Mahmoud Abbas has not given up the right of return as a claim to be realized. To return to the houses, to the villages. The implication of this is that there will not be a Jewish state here…I also have every reason to be suspicious of the Palestinian Arabs and not to trust them on security arrangements and keeping their side of the deal. It remains a problem for us, the principle of accountability. We want to make a deal in the evening and have it remain true in the morning.”
Shockingly, he even expressed concerns that we could face “a situation in which there will not be a Jewish state here in the end.”
ZOA President Morton A. Klein commented on the Ya’alon interview, “This remarkably candid interview with outgoing IDF Chief General Ya’alon adds to the growing list of important military, intelligence, and political leaders opposed to the Gaza withdrawal plan. They include Natan Sharansky, former Israeli Minister; Avi Dichter, outgoing Chief of Shin Bet; Aharon Farkash, Chief of Military Intelligence; Moshe Arens, former Minister of Defense; Benny Begin, former Israeli Minister; Shlomo Gazit, former Chief of Military Intelligence; Yaacov Amidror, former Deputy Director of Military Intelligence; Reuven Rivlin, speaker of the Knesset; Gideon Saar, Chief of Likud Section, and many others.
“It is perplexing that the Israeli government has learned little from the Oslo experiment which ended in disaster. Making one-sided concessions to an unrepentant enemy regime will only lead to more violence. Israel also apparently doesn’t appreciate that the US Congress will continue to be strongly supportive of Israel whether they make this concession or not.
“We hope we are wrong, but we agree with Ya’alon that this Gaza plan will lead to more terror against Jews, not less. It only sends a message that terror pays, and pays well.
“We were also heartened that the General exposed the conventional wisdom that establishing a Palestinian Arab state will lead to peace as totally and utterly false. The opposite will happen.
“It is high time for President Bush to stop discussing and proposing the idea of a Palestinian state. This discussion should not occur until the Palestinian Authority fulfills its obligations under the Road Map to disarm and dismantle the terror groups, end the promotion of hatred and murder against Jews in the schools, mosques and media, closes the bomb factories, stops the smuggling of weapons from Egypt to Gaza, and begin arresting terrorists.
“We also strongly urge that President Bush stop giving hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxpayers’ funds to the Palestinian Arabs until these conditions are met. Anything less is simply appeasement. And we should always remember Winston Churchill’s important warning, ‘Those who appease the crocodile will simply be eaten last.’”