Israel and The Sin of Expulsion
The Implications and Consequences of Expulsion for the Jewish People
Column One: As We Bumble Into War, by Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)
“Defense Minister Amir Peretz is preparing to renew his hostilities against his greatest foes – the Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria. As to the Palestinians, Hezbollah and their state sponsors, Peretz has nothing constructive to say.”
“As is her practice, Livni ignored the fact that her ‘moderate’ friend Abbas stands at the center of those “extremists” inciting for war.”
For context, click here.
PM Authorizes Ashkenazi as IDF Chief, By Yaakov Katz and Dan Izenberg (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts;
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz released a joint statement Monday night announcing their decision to appoint Defense Ministry Dir.-Gen. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi to the post of IDF chief of General Staff.
The announcement was made following a rare joint meeting between the two at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.
Peretz plans to bring the appointment to the cabinet for approval Sunday after Ashkenazi is approved by a judicial committee headed by former judge Ya’acov Terkel. Ashkenazi will become the 19th chief of staff and the first from the Golani Brigade. He will replace Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, who announced his resignation last Tuesday.
Gov’t Group: Delay IDF Chief Appointment
For context, click here.
The Movement for Quality Government filed a petition Monday with the High Court of Justice calling for a delay in the appointment of Defense Ministry Director-General Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi as the IDF’s 19th chief of General Staff until after the Winograd Committee publishes its interim conclusions at the beginning of February.
“There is no way a recommendation can be submitted in which both the appointing members from the political echelon and the candidates could be included in [the committee’s conclusions],” the petition said.
Olmert Vows to Work with Peretz in Replacing Halutz, By Yaakov Katz, Herb Keinon (Jerusalem Post)
Commentary;
The two least knowledgeable leaders in the area of Security and National Defense in Israel’s nearly 59 years of contemporary history will apparently put their heads together to choose Dan Halutz’s successor as IDF Chief of Staff.
As a result, expect more of the same as the three leading candidates for the post; Maj.-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky
and Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz were all active participants, as was Halutz, in the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and the Shomron towns. Until the rot of the “Old Boy Network” expellers is fully excised from the IDF as well as from the political, governing sectors, the same indecision, indecisiveness, garbled orders, appeasement and incompetence before the enemy will remain and persecution of Jews cleaving to the Land of Israel will continue. MB
UPDATED Halutz to General Staff: ‘I Won’t Leave in a Rush’, By Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Full Text;
Hours after dropping a bombshell by announcing his resignation, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz told the General Staff on Wednesday morning that he had faith in the IDF’s capability to continue dealing with threats Israel faced, and said he had no intention to “take [his] stuff and leave in a rush.”
Halutz said he planned to stay in place until a successor was chosen, and the changeover complete.
Shomron Gives Report on Lebanon War, by Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Commentary;
Embarrassment and shame seem to mean nothing to Dan Halutz! MB
Full Text;
The General Staff convened to hear former chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Dan Shomron’s findings on Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz’s performance during the war in Lebanon this past summer.
Shomron’s report did not detail steps to take against specific individuals in the IDF. Instead, the findings detailed a list of shortcomings in the transfer of orders from commanders to the soldiers in the field. Shomron also criticized the many changes made in operation plans during the war.
Friday, December 8, 2006;
Public Opinion is Dead, By Ze’ev Sternhell (Haaretz)
“Olmert also knows something more important: Our society has changed. A generation separates us from the Yom Kippur War and about a quarter of a century has elapsed since the Israel Defense Forces’ entry into Beirut. Israeli society has broken up into its constituent parts, there is no solidarity or mutual responsibility and the already meager opposition lacks leadership.”
Excerpts;
It would be interesting to know what would have happened at the end of 1973 had the chief of staff at the time, David (Dado) Elazar, decided that he would be the one to investigate himself, or if then chief of staff, Rafael (Raful) Eitan, had appointed a commission of his own on the matter of Sabra and Chatila in 1982. And how would our streets look today had prime ministers Golda Meir and Menachem Begin appointed commissions whose moral authority was doubtful from the outset? Indeed, the state commissions of inquiry Meir and Begin decided on were not established because of their desire to do so, but instead because they were compelled to do so by public opinion. Nonetheless, they bowed to the judgment because they had a sense of moral and public obligation far beyond their formal obligation.
The Halutz, Peretz Show – Slip, Sliding Away, By Anshel Pfeffer (Jerusalem Post)
“Halutz can spare himself the humiliation by preempting its conclusion.”
For context, click here.
Excerpts;
The consensus is that Chief of Staff Dan Halutz is on the way out.
He might be talking about his plans for reform in the army and learning the lessons of the Lebanon War, but the advice he has received lately from trusted advisors is that in order to rescue what is left of his honor, he should wait for the last internal reports to be published – and after an interval of a few weeks, at the most a couple of months – decide the timing of his departure.
Lieberman Cedes Demands on Behalf of “National Responsibility”, by Hillel Fendel (Israel National News)
For context; click here.
Commentary;
“It’s All About Iran.” Give us a break. Once again, another corrupt politician renegs on every promise made to voters in exchange for power, in the hopes that Kadima stays in power long enough to kill Likud so that Yisrael Beiteinu replaces it and Lieberman becomes Prime Minister. Once again, what Caroline Glick wrote recently is instructive as to the Lieberman strategy;
State Won’t Disclose Letter on War Probe, by Dan Izenberg (Jerusalem Post)
Full Text;
The state on Sunday rejected a request to release the contents of a letter written by Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in which Mazuz allegedly told Olmert he should appoint a state commission of inquiry to investigate the government’s handling of the war against Lebanon last summer.
The request was filed last week by the Movement for Quality Government, one of two watchdog organizations demanding that the government-appointed Winograd Committee of Examination into the government’s handling of the second Lebanese war be dismissed and replaced by a state commission of inquiry, whose members are appointed by the president of the Supreme Court.