Ya’alon says leadership exaggerating threats, ‘scaring’ Israeli citizens
Ex-defense minister takes aim at Avigdor Liberman, accusing him of trying to make headlines at expense of IDF chief
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Former defense minister and IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon criticized the Israeli government on Tuesday, accusing it of exaggerating threats and “scaring” citizens on matters of security, while also hinting that he would run in the next national elections.
Speaking at a medical conference in Jerusalem, Ya’alon doubled down on a statement he made last month that there “is currently no existential threat to Israel, and the national leadership should stop scaring citizens.”
“Israel is the strongest country in the region, and its security establishment… is high-quality, advanced, and powerful. There are security threats and we must seriously prepare for them. There are challenges and security concerns, certainly,” he added.
Ya’alon also took aim at Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, slamming him for trying to make headlines at the expense of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot over a controversial decision to end a volunteering program for IDF soldiers with children of migrants in south Tel Aviv. The order reportedly came directly from Liberman.
Liberman was said to have personally called Eisenkot last week and ordered him to put an immediate end to the program.
Ya’alon said Tuesday that he “would expect the defense minister to be preoccupied with other matters and not with trying to make headlines over leadership maneuvers at the expense of the IDF chief of staff.”
The veteran ex-Likud minister also indicated that he will challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the next election for the premiership. Ties between the two took a nosedive following a political shake-up in May which saw Ya’alon ousted as defense minister, with Liberman installed in his stead in efforts to expand Netanyahu’s coalition.
“With my resignation from the Knesset and coalition, I announced that I would run for the leadership in the next elections,” Ya’alon said Tuesday. “When I was drafted into the IDF, I didn’t plan on being an officer, and when I returned to [military] service after the Yom Kippur War, I didn’t think I would be IDF chief of staff. Along the way, I never imagined I would be defense minister.”
The Times of Israel Community.