Ex-defense chief slams PM for keeping parts of Emirates deal secret

On the eve of the Knesset debate about Israel’s treaty with the United Arab Emirates, former defense minister and current opposition lawmaker Moshe Ya’alon levels harsh criticism at the government for keeping sensitive parts of the agreement secret from parliament.

He charges that doing so could harm Israel’s national security.

Citing reports saying Israel okayed the sale to Abu Dhabi of US-made F-35 jets and other “advanced weaponry that could be detrimental to Israel’s qualitative military edge,” Ya’alon says he has demanded the agreement be presented to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee or to a classified subcommittee in its entirety. “My request went unanswered,” he laments.

“The international reports and their confirmation by various international actors involved in the agreement stand in contradiction to the prime minister’s concealment of information from the Knesset, and the security cabinet, and raise worrying questions,” Ya’alon tells The Times of Israel. “This is not in keeping with responsible leadership and management.”

“I was privileged to contribute for many years to the development of these important relations but how can a peace accord, as important and welcome as it is, be brought to the Knesset for approval without giving the Knesset Members, who are the representatives of the people, the opportunity to examine it all?” Ya’alon continues.

“The Knesset is not a rubber stamp and I am certainly not one,” he adds.

Ya’alon, a former IDF chief of staff, was a longtime member of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party until the prime minister fired him as defense minister.

Ya’alon has been a vociferous critic of Netanyahu ever since.

He refuses to say whether he will vote in favor or against the treaty during tomorrow’s debate.

— Raphael Ahren