Knesset hopeful Galant blasts handling of ‘Protective Edge’

Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yoav Galant, a Knesset hopeful running with Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party, criticized the management of Operation Protective Edge, claiming Israel could have achieved better results in last summer’s 50-day conflict with Hamas.

“The operation was expensive, long, and not ‘quality’ in terms of what was achieved, Kahlon said in an interview broadcast Friday by Ynet. “Despite the fact that we had soldiers with high zeal, from the foot soldiers all the way up to the top commanders… we did not give ourselves the opportunity… to not only show Hamas, Hamas is only a small problem, to show the others around us that those who mess with us will regret it.

Galant, the former head of the IDF’s Southern Command, built a reputation as a hard-nosed commander, particularly during Operation Cast Lead — a three-week conflict in the winter of 2008-2009 against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“I don’t want to turn this into a personal criticism… but if you’re asking me how we are supposed to go to war the next time around, then we need to prepare differently, to command differently, to manage differently and drill differently so we can get better results,” the retired major general asserted.

Operation Protective Edge, last summer’s conflict, started after Israel responded to incessant rocket fire stemming from the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other terrorist groups. The 50-day war was among the bloodiest in the recent history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, claiming the lives of approximately 2,100 Palestinians (half of them gunmen according to Israel) and 72 on the Israeli side.

Galant officially announced his membership in the new center-right wing party founded by ex-Likud member Kahlon on Thursday night. The 56-year-old, who will be second on his party’s list, has long been considered a valuable potential addition to many political parties and an attractive prospect for Knesset membership because of his extensive security experience.

In 2011, the former naval commando was named to replace Gabi Ashkenazi as IDF Chief of General Staff. However allegations that Galant seized public lands to make expansions to his home in the northern community of Amikam caused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his appointment to the IDF’s top position.

Galant’s rival candidate in the running, Benny Gantz, was appointed as Chief of Staff in his place.

Galant apologized for the affair on Thursday. “Mistakes were made in my behavior, and I paid for them, as everyone knows,” Galant said at a Kulanu press conference in Ramat Gan.

“I regret it. If these things happened today, I would act differently. I put them behind me, and I am looking to the future. The feeling of responsibility and my great love for the people of Israel and the Land of Israel are what brought me to choose Kulanu.”

Despite the gaffe, Galant’s name surfaced again recently when Gantz’s successor was being determined, but the job when to Gantz’s deputy Gadi Eisenkot, who takes over in February.

According to Nehemia Gershuni’s average of the last six polls (Hebrew link), corrected for per-party polling errors over the past three election cycles, Kulanu is expected to fetch eight out of 120 seats in the upcoming March 17 election.

Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.