Peres urges IDF commanders to keep silent on Galant affair
During visit to Border Guard anti-terror base, president says 'bickering within defense establishment must stop'
President Shimon Peres urged "all commanders" to immediately stop commenting in the media on the land affair which led to the cancellation of Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant's appointment as army chief "for the sake of Israel and the IDF."
While visiting a Border Guard base on Thursday, Peres said the "bickering within the defense establishment's higher echelons must cease at once. Particularly now, when everything around us is burning, we must come to our senses. These arguments hurt us all."
President with special unit (Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO)
Peres, who was accompanied by Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Police chief Dudi Cohen and the commander of the Border Guard, observed a drill simulating a special police unit raid on a building in which "hostages are being held by terrorists."
The president said the special unit was "the best in the world," and told the officers "thanks to you Israel has become the first country in the world that is able to combat the devastating terror with such a high level of success.
"Each and every one of you has saved the lives of hundreds of Israeli families by carrying out secret operations which demanded courage, precision and professionalism," he said.
The officers told the president they would not hesitate to risk their lives in order to release captive soldier Gilad Shalit.
Ronen Medzini and Yair Altman contributed to the report
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