Winograd member: Israel created kidnapping weapon
Professor Yehezkel Dror discusses intricacies of internal Israeli politics, political-military relations and recommendations for future in speech delivered at Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center
"Israel has turned the problems of kidnapping into a weapon against itself. Paying great prices for kidnappings teaches the other side to increase its kidnappings," Winograd Commission member, Professor Yehezkel Dror said in a speech at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya on Tuesday.
Speaking at a conference at the center, Dror added that "everyone who understands Israel's real problems must read the (Winograd) report. You don't have to agree, but it's an extraordinary opportunity for enrichment. Israel is a thinking country."
Dror, an expert in public administration, noted in his speech that "it is impossible to develop a war tradition without paying the price. The internal politics in Israel are heated and do not encourage thinking.
"The military has too much weight in making decisions. This preponderance (of decision-making responsibility) compared to the Foreign Ministry has caused many problems."
According to the professor, there is an absence of professionals in the evaluation of strategic situations.
"The necessities of building a coalition obligate the prime minister to give a preponderance of consideration to political considerations. This coalitional dependence forces the finance minister to forego certain budgets and so on. It is manifested by the nomination of (Amir) Peretz as defense minister for example.
"The war is a symptom of the problems there are in the IDF. The problem is not only training maneuvers but also theory. The future of Israel depends 70-80% on us. In the best case scenario, we only influence 20-30%. This is our challenge," Dror said.
The Winograd Commission member laid out his recommendations for Israel's future. Among other things, Dror said that the National Security Council must be strengthened.
"Without a prime minister that supports the council, there is no chance it will have the necessary standing," Prof. Dror said.
'De Gaulle-Clinton combo needed'
He added that "the parliamentarian (system of) government has defeated itself" and there is a need to transfer to a form of government similar to a presidential system of government.
"This will enable the making of decisions in complicated matters. Israel needs a leader who combines (former French President Charles) de Gaulle with (former US President Bill) Clinton," he concluded.
Judge Eliyahu Winograd, head of the commission that bears his name, discussed the responses to the commission's final report in a conversation with Ynet this week: "You must read the report from cover to cover in order to address it," he said.
He refused to address the contents of the document and directed any questions about it to the remarks he made during the press conference following the report's release.
He reiterated that "as we said and wrote, the interim report is an inseparable part of the final report – the commission does not back down from the tough things that were said in it."
