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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| IsraelÂ’s New Top Soldier May Have to Take on the Politicians First - before the Enemy |
| 2007-02-10 |
| The incoming chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi, won a full four-year term when the cabinet unanimously endorsed him Sunday, Feb 4, instead of the standard 3 years and an optional fourth. He takes the reins from the hands of Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz on Feb. 14. Ashkenazi faces some hard choices before he can settle into the job. The flames of a Palestinian civil war engulfing the Gaza Strip pose a multiple threat to Israel which his bosses, the politicians, persist in brushing aside. At the cabinet meeting Sunday, vice prime minister Shimon Peres stressed that Israel must not interfere in the Fatah-Hamas factional fight, tossing out typical sound bites: “Leave Gaza to the Gazans.” “We did not pull out in order to return.” “Our interference would be harmful.” Defense minister Amir Peretz seconded these sentiments. Neither admits that Israel is already deeply involved in the Gaza war. The new chief of staff will be called upon to judge the situation in the light of national security. If he emulates his predecessor, who slavishly obeyed Ariel Sharon, he will be dismissed as the second political appointee in a row to fill the post of top Israeli soldier.The consequences of Halutz’s meekness were plain to see in the Lebanon War last summer and the breakdown of life, law and order in the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s unilateral pullback left the territory without a Palestinian authority capable of taking charge. |
| Posted by:gromgoru |
| #1 You wanted self-rule, now you've got it. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-02-10 09:08 |