IDF chief apologizes for saying ‘secure dictatorship better than unprotected anarchy’

Military chief Herzi Halevi admits to saying a controversial quote attributed to him over the weekend, but clarifies that it “does not reflect my worldview.”

Halevi was quoted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper as saying “a secure dictatorship is better than an unprotected anarchy.”

“In the last few days, I talked and held meetings with hundreds of reserve commanders from all branches and wings of the IDF. I listened to the murmurings, the different opinions and perceptions,” Halevi says at a military ceremony, calling the tensions over the judicial overhaul “days of controversy in Israeli society.”

“In one of the conversations, a remark was made regarding an extreme point to which the dispute could develop. I replied with a moral response about our duty to protect, about the fact that I will always be in this country, and added a sentence that I should not have said and that does not reflect my worldview at all,” Halevi says.

“I would like to take this opportunity to clarify my intentions,” he adds. “The IDF will not be able to act during the disintegration of society. The IDF will not be able to act without the spirit of volunteerism of the reservists and their willingness [serve], which depends on the preservation of the IDF as the people’s army in a democratic Jewish state.”

The military chief cites the IDF’s code of ethics, known as Spirit of the IDF: “The soldiers of the IDF will act according to the values ​​of the IDF and its orders, while keeping to the laws of the state and human dignity, and respecting the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

“I am committed to this on behalf of the entire IDF,” he adds.