Former IDF chief of staff and defense minister, Bogie Yaalon, said in an interview this week that the army is committing war crimes in northern Gaza. He added that “there is no more Beit Hanoun, no more Jabalya.” They have been ethnically cleansed. “We are moving there toward conquest and annexation, ethnic cleansing” in order to replace its inhabitants with “Jewish settlements.”
He based his claims, he told the interviewer, on eyewitness testimony from commanders in the field, with whom he served. He said he was speaking “in the names of commanders serving there.” He added that he was “holding up a mirror” to the mission of the General’s Plan to eliminate (the report in the Israeli state broadcaster, Kan, euphemistically called it “thinning the population”) Gazans from northern Gaza; and build “Jewish settlements” to replace them. He added:
I must protest against what is happening there. War crimes are being perpetrated. [Until now] no democracy has ever been brought before the Hague [ICC].
None of these claims are new. Global public opinion has long accepted this as the reality. But it is unprecedented for such a senior Israeli figure to affirm these charges in such stark terms. In the same interview, Yaalon demanded a national commission of inquiry, which Netanyahu has resisted saying now is not the time to focus on this as the war continues. In other words: not now, not ever is the time for such an investigation.
Yaalon excoriated Netanyahu regarding a Lebanon ceasefire, noting that six weeks ago the country’s leaders had called for a ceasefire along with a return to the UN resolution calling for Hezbollah to give up its weapons. He called it a “historic opportunity” that the Israeli leader “wasted for personal motives.” He was referring to his use of the conflicts there and in Gaza to retain political power.
Netanyahu’s most recently deposed defense minister, Yoav Gallant hit back, saying Yaalon’s claims were “a lie” giving aid and comfort to “our enemies” and “damaging Israel.” Gallant, also a former IDF chief of staff facing an ICC arrest warrant, portrayed IDF military operations as meeting “the highest standards…in the complex and difficult war that was imposed on us.” “Complex” is another euphemism for “we may have done bad things, but they made us do it.” He demanded that Yaalon “apologize” to the soldiers and country. He refused.
Benny Gantz, leader of what is charitably named the Opposition, complained that Yaalon was endangering IDF officers, who would face war crimes charges in the Hague supported by his claims.
Yaalon faced enormous blowback. Israelis are enraged when they are called to account for their crimes. As a former chief of staff and minister, the anger is even greater. It’s no surprise that he has now recanted much of his criticism, saying that he was not referring to the IDF committing war crimes, but to the political leaders ie. Netanyahu, Smotrich who order them to do so. He did attribute blame to them in his remarks and never said that military commanders were directly responsible. Nevertheless, he clearly said that these officers told him they were committing these crimes.
Yaalon, is no dove. He was fired as chief of staff by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon because he refused to evacuate Israeli setters from Gaza in 2005. He once participated in a hasbara trip to Australia in the company of Meir Kahane’s family members. Earlier, he commanded one of the first (2002) large scale invasions of the West Bank in a failed attempt to end the Second Intifada. Its attacks on then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat and its forces. permitted the ascendancy of Hamas. This phenomenon is an almost universal outcome of counter-terror campaigns: in destroying one enemy you enable the rise of a more powerful one. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed, along with tens of Israeli soldiers.
I’ve written here about his calls for turning Iran into a wasteland. In 2011, he said it had two stark choices: to “have a nuclear weapon or survive.” But he ruled out a direct Israeli attack, believing that the US should undertake such an operation. Then-Pres. George Bush refused to do so, as did Barack Obama. Joe Biden, notably, gave Israel a green light to assassinate Iranian commanders in Damascus and launch a missile attack on Iran. Pres.-elect Trump will, if anything, loosen what few constraints may have existed under his predecessor.
There could be political reasons for his most recent Gaza comments. He, as with much of Israel, is disgusted by Netanyahu. Disgusted by the death toll of hundreds of Israeli civilians (but not at all troubled by the mass murder of Palestinian civilians). By saying the unthinkable, he’s taking his revenge on Netanyahu. Calling him out for what he is: a failed leader. Perhaps, if this were another leader or another time, he might not speak in this fashion. But in these circumstances, he needed to speak out as forcefully as he could to shake up the Israeli people and speak on behalf of his army officer comrades who cannot speak themselves.
Then again, if I was being more charitable I might say that Yaalon has developed somewhat of a conscience, at least as far as this catastrophic war is concerned. It’s a major step beyond what he could have said in the past as a former minister and general.
Unfortunately, such Israelis always seem to develop a conscience once they leave the stage. All of a sudden they become Hamlet and speak truths they could never speak while in power. And that’s the tragedy of Israeli politics. You lie when you’re in power, to stay in power. Then, when you have no power, all of a sudden you can speak truth. But no one will listen.
Yediot headline: Yaalon says “Kerry is Messianic and Obsessive”
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe [Bogie] Ya’alon tongue-lashing at Kerry nothing new | Jan 15, 2014 |
… destroying relations with Israel’s top ally. VP Joe Biden had Netanyahu’s back … American national interests … what is the definition of a traitor?
State the obvious.
The leading Western media outlets did not ignore the historical event that took place on Tuesday in Tel Aviv, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the country’s first sitting prime minister to testify as a criminal defendant.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkbkirivje
True … he refrained to bear witness at his ICJ genocide hearing in The Hague … next time he would be arrested if he drops by.
Netanyahu was NEVER a partner for peace, just one more brutal assault on occupied territories of Palestine and beyond. Founded in terror and never changed tack.