Ya’alon scolds ministers for Protective Edge carping

Defense chief Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday lashed out at fellow ministers for criticizing the government’s decision-making during the summer’s war with Hamas, saying the divisions hurt Israel on the battlefield.

Ya’alon, speaking to press in Tel Aviv, also said he did not think Hamas would resume rocket fire on Israel, and indicated that reserves general Yoav Galant would not get the nod to become the next IDF chief of staff.

Without naming names, Ya’alon censured lawmakers for going to the press with critiques of how the government handled the war.

“I hope that the ministers in the cabinet learned their lesson,” he said. Such public division “brings a heavy price in combat. The other side sees how we will soon split apart,” he added, referring to several instances when high-level officials criticized the course of the war.

Ya’alon also said he had disciplined an officer who had leaked secret information to a cabinet minister, apparently referring to Economy Minister Naftali Bennett who received classified information from a reserve officer about the tunnel threat from Gaza.

“It is absolutely forbidden for cabinet ministers to speak with officers without my knowledge. There was a communication of this nature, but it was not legitimate and not treated appropriately,” he said.

Netanyahu had earlier denounced ministers from his inner security cabinet for speaking out against decision-making during the war. Bennett and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman had both been among the cabinet’s harshest critics, calling for a longer and more punishing ground offensive than the one that was waged during the 50-day military campaign.

There are “no indications” that Hamas will begin firing rockets at Israel anytime soon, Ya’alon said, whether or not indirect Israel-Hamas negotiations begin next month in Cairo as planned.

Israel has taken steps to ensure its end of the open-ended ceasefire agreement which ended the summer conflict has been upheld, including extending the range allowed for Gazan fishing boats in the Mediterranean and allowing more supply trucks through the Keren Shalom crossing, he added.

He noted that Israel, the UN and the Palestinian Authority are to jointly monitor the importing of construction materials into the Strip, and said that there will be “strict intelligence surveillance” to ensure that materials are not used to rebuild the terror tunnels destroyed by the IDF during the war.

Ya’alon also said Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s proposed 2015 budget did not contain enough money for defense. Lapid has claimed that the cost of Operation Protective Edge amounted to some NIS 6 billion ($1.6 billion), not the NIS 9 billion ($2.5b) the Defense Ministry has claimed.

The budgetary debate, which has been heavily reported on in the media this week, has “become stupid,” Ya’alon said, adding that the Defense Ministry was not “looking for extras” but rather a return to “fitness.”

The defense minister also noted that, in contrast to some governmental officials, he would not rule out cooperation with a UN investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel during Operation Protective Edge, but said that Israel knew how to investigate itself and could not participate in a commission of inquiry that would “determine things in advance.”

Addressing a brewing succession battle over who will take over for IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz, Ya’alon said the candidate would come from the active ranks, an indirect nixing of Galant, who is in the reserves. Galant had been a favored candidate the last time a new chief was chosen in 2011, but dropped out after real estate improprieties were discovered around his home.

“I will bring forward the best candidate for government approval along with the prime minister’s advice,” he said.