The new Israeli Chief of Staff assesses the situation:
Ya'alon: PA doesn't recognize our right to exist
By HAIM SHAPIRO AND THE JERUSALEM POST STAFF
"The current Palestinian leadership does not recognize the State of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and is trying to realize its doctrine of stages," Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon told an assembly of the country's rabbis in Jerusalem Sunday.
Ya'alon said the Palestinian leaders had initiated the current conflict in order to avoid giving an answer to Israel and the US in response to the peace proposals drawn up by both states. He added that a large part of the Palestinian population now understands that their leaders are taking them into a dead end situation.
Although Ya'alon asked journalists to leave the room where he was speaking, Yediot Aharanot's Web site Y-net obtained a recording of his speech to the rabbis, gathered for the Chief Rabbinate's annual pre-Rosh Hashana meeting.
Ya'alon said the Palestinians believe "that through terror and similar processes they will succeed in establishing a state, first in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, and afterwards in the other parts of the land of Israel...
"If this conflict goes on with the feeling on the Palestinian side that terrorism is winning and terrorism leads to achievements, we will find ourselves on a slippery slope regarding our ability to deter the Palestinians from using terrorism anywhere there is no agreement, regarding other groups that have used terror in the past and are currently reconsidering, and groups even those that signed agreements with us but that now say: 'Just a minute: If there's something that can be gained here via terrorism, let's join in.'
"This is why I say as a military man that we must win this conflict in such a way that the Palestinian side will have burned into its consciousness that terrorism and violence have no chance of leading to any achievement which translates into Israeli surrender."
Ya'alon said the Palestinian side "is resisting carrying out its commitment to stop terrorism and violence. I say that this initiated process reflects the Palestinian Authority's lack of recognition of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. In an attempt to maintain terrorism as a tool with which to pressure the State of Israel, this leadership thought that the State of Israel would break much sooner.
It did not believe that the State of Israel could absorb [611] dead, could absorb the kind of economic damage we have been absorbing over the past two years, and they thought that there would be demonstrations much sooner which would direct the political echelon to reach decisions, whether it be a unilateral withdrawal or anything else that is essentially surrendering to terror."
Underscoring this point, Ya'alon said that "All the Arab circles chose what they saw as Israel's weak spot: Israeli society's inability to stand up [to terrorism], and it was no accident that they chose terrorism, which strikes at civilians, and the use of missiles which overcome all of Israel's abilities [to defend itself] and strike at the home front.
"They do this out of the belief that striking at Israeli society and its civilians will set off internal processes similar to the withdrawal from Lebanon. A society which projects an inability to stand up to losses puts pressure from the lower echelons to the higher ones, and this leads to demonstrations, etc., which ultimately leads to the political echelon making decisions based on the Arab side's interests," he said.
"The Arabs look at the past 20 years, from our first pullbacks in Lebanon made while counting those killed and the Jibril agreement, and I say these two things brought about the 1987 intifada. The Palestinians' understanding that Israel cannot stand up to losses brought the intifada upon us, and when we look upon what has happened since the intifada the current conflict is not an intifada and the processes that have taken place since, their belief that the State of Israel is not prepared to fight any more, to sacrifice for its defense, was strengthened, and therefore they believed it was right to press it at its weakest link its steadfastness."
There is no way of coming to an understanding with the present Palestinian leadership, Ya'alon said, adding that to show any weakness in this regard would put Israel into a tailspin.
Speaking about other threats, Ya'alon said that "Iraq, if it could, would have already achieved nuclear capability," to threaten Israel and "if necessary use it against Israel, because it sees the goal of destroying the State of Israel, a Jewish state, as a supreme one."
He said that Israel is much better prepared to meet any Iraqi threat Monday than during the Gulf War, both in terms of striking at Iraq and in dealing with any missile threat. "The Iraqi threat does not keep me up at night," Ya'alon said, adding that it "does not pose an existential threat to the state of Israel."
Regarding Syria, Ya'alon said Syrian leader Bashir Assad is currently "on the fence, but with both his arms and legs leaning towards armed conflict." He added that Assad had been encouraged by Hizbullah's success and the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, but "Assad also understands and recognizes the IDF's clear superiority over Syria, which is why he is wary of putting his army to the test."
Iran, after the Khomeini revolution of 1979, is a state which openly advocates the destruction of Israel, Ya'alon said. "The Iranians are also acting to support Palestinian terrorist organizations wherever they are Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, and even the PA itself." He said the episode of the Karine A weapons smuggling ship reflected Iran's policy of supporting any body that could speed Israel's demise.
Ya'alon, who spoke for almost an hour, told the rabbis they have a role to influence a large sector of Israeli society.
In response, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau told the rabbis that he was particularly concerned about news reports of looting by soldiers in Operation Defensive Shield. Lau said that such acts, like violence within the family and violence on the road, should not typify Israeli society.
The chief rabbi said that it is not just a question of Israel's existence, but of Israel's right to exist. There has been a critical erosion of the nature of Israel as a Jewish state, he said, adding that by the same token he is concerned by the influx of many immigrants who are not only not Jewish, but have no connection to Judaism.
The Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Ya'alon's diplomatic assessments. A ministry source said the defense minister is responsible for Ya'alon and would need to answer for him.
The Defense Ministry said Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer did not plan to comment. The Prime Minister's Office also said it has no comment on the speech.
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