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Photo: Reuters
No stalemate between myself and the defense minister
Photo: Reuters

"Palestinians not serious enough'

Army Chief Moshe Yaalon says Palestinians not doing enough to stop terror; Israel to continue arrests to stop impeding bomb threats

TEL AVIV - Israel will continue to conduct arrests in the West Bank and Gaza for the Purim holiday and has sealed off the territories because the Palestinians are not doing enough to prevent terror, Army Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon said on Wednesday, despite a de facto truce declared by Palestinian terrorists.

 

Speaking at Israel's main military induction center in Tel Aviv, Yaalon said the threat of suicide bombings still exists and that the army act to stop them before they occur by arresting gunmen suspected of planning to carry out an attack. 

 

"There are active cells planning to carry out terror attacks and therefore we are continuing our efforts, including overnight arrests. In such arrests, where we arrest terrorists in their beds, we are preventing them from reaching a Tel Aviv nightclub or a mall in Afula," Yaalon said.

 

He made his comments a day after Israel handed security control of the West Bank town of Tul Karm in a series of gestures aimed at promoting peacemaking and boosting Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who had secured a pledge from terrorist groups to stop attacks against Israelis until the end of the year at the most.

 

Palestinian suicide bombers, Yaalon said, were likely to emerge from Tul Karm, as well as other West Bank towns Nablus and Jenin, which are all terrorist strongholds.

 

"As long as the Palestinian Authority doesn't (stop terror), and in light of an impending threat, we decided to impose a closure," he added.

 

Israel had often imposed closures around Palestinian towns around the holidays. Defense officials say threats of impending attacks against Israelis increase during those times.

 

Yaalon said soldiers were gearing up to implement new patrol tactics of the Gaza border and Jewish settlements inside the territory ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from the area this summer. However, he said, if Palestinians in Gaza do not “maintain calm”, Israel would “operate behind the lines as we did in Lebanon.”

 

No stalemate between Mofaz and Yaalon

 

Yaalon addressed the parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday to criticize Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz’s decision not to renew his term as army chief, as observed by Israeli tradition for years.

 

"As an officer I certainly accept the decision made, just as I have done throughout the years," he said. “It's an uneasy feeling particularly towards commanders and soldiers. I am used to setting a personal example.”

 

Media analysts have said Yaalon’s early dismissal resulted from past comments he had made where he criticized some of the army’s tactics during Gaza operations, especially noting their result of high numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties. However, he denied any bad blood between him and Mofaz.

 

“I propose not indulging in gossip, it’s inconceivable that the chief of staff and defense minister would not be on speaking terms, he said. It wasn't so, and isn't so,” he said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.23.05, 14:51
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