By way of background, Moshe Ya’alon is a very important man. He was head of military intelligence (1995–1998), head of Israel’s Central Command (1998–2002), the IDF’s former Chief of Staff (2002–2005), and is currently a minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet with the title of Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Affairs.
Last June, he gave a speech at the settlement of Eli in the Ariel block (northern West Bank) in celebration of the 25th anniversary of its founding:
Jews have an “unassailable right” to “settle anywhere, particularly here, the land of the Bible.”
[...]
[The settlement of] Eli, which is tucked deep in the heart of the disputed territory, “breathes life into the Zionist vision in the face of the rising Arab nationalism.”
[...]
“[Israel] must revive the values of Zionism and to derive power and morality from it,” Ya’alon said. “Eli is an example and a model to be imitated.”
Should we really entrust peacemaking to Ya’alon and his friends?
