Stop your childish games

Op-ed: In face of looming security threats, top defense officials must end their quarrels

Reuters | Published: 11.18.10, 12:04

You have three guesses: What were Israeli journalists preoccupied with on the eve of the Yom Kippur War in 1973? Here are the possible answers: a) The great war to break out in less than a day on Syria's and Egypt's borders B) Analysis of what will happen should the peace impasse vis-à-vis Egypt and Jordan continue C) The complaint voiced by then-PM Golda Meir for not being offered even a cup of tea during her meeting with the Jewish Chancellor of Austria, Bruno Kreisky.

Well, what's the right answer? You got it right, of course: The newspapers were preoccupied with that cup of tea! Only a day later, hundreds of IDF soldiers were already dead. The State of Israel would have given up a million cups of tea, with or without sugar, if that could avert the painful tragedy.

So why am I recalling this cup of tea? Because at this time, when our enemies are threatening to exterminate us, we see a tragedy unfolding right before our very eyes: The people entrusted with the State of Israel's security, the ones in charge of our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren, are quarrelling as if they were kindergarten kids.

The rivalry between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi has reached new heights. According to some reports, the disgust and row between them has reached physical dimensions: One cannot sit where the other stands. Some people would say that the difficult relationship between Barak and Ashkenazi jeopardizes the State of Israel's security.

To be honest, there were almost never ideal or idyllic relationships among our top defense brass. Our history is replete with monstrous, dangerous quarrels between defense ministers, chiefs of staff, and generals. Yet back then, for better and for worst, the censors placed an iron curtain over the media and the disputes were only known by few.

So what's so dangerous about the current war between Barak and Ashkenazi?

A short distance away, our enemies are preparing for us a war of a new type; a war of missiles and rockets that will overstep our frontlines and Air Force jets, and even our top infantry forces, reaching our doorsteps. It appears that in the next war, members of the home front will be the frontline soldiers.

Under such state of affairs, in any normal country, the leader/captain/prime minister would summon the two people who run the security establishment and tell them: Either stop quarrelling, or pack up and leave, at once! The State of Israel is not your family business. National security is more important than all your ego battles, the forged Galant document, the leaks to the media, the sucking-up to the various journalists, and the real and bogus commotions. If you cannot get over yourselves, please go away; go to hell.