The occupation must end. It harms and tears, spills our sons' blood and consumes our mental power
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
Brigadier General (res.) Giora Inbar
Photo: Gabi Menashe
Wanted: A general of peace
Op-ed: The only general who should be given a secured spot in the ruling party is one who can end the occupation. A responsible leadership has no right to exist if it is incapable of using Israel's military strength to reach an agreement which will guarantee peace and security.
I have called off all my plans for March and will dedicate my entire time to the elections. We have also decided with our all children, who all have the right to vote, that we will be active and vote. While elections in Israel always have a critical nature, they are of vital importance this time.
We have had enough of being intimidated about Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, the next Holocaust, the Islamic State, Hamas, the next terror attack, the next missile. The fear is to get stuck again with a government which lacks leadership and a vision, which disregards us and our rights, moving away from democracy and allowing racism to raise its head. A government which, with the absence of bravery and courage to settle the conflict through an agreement, is leading us by leaps and bounds to an internal disaster and external isolation and detachment.
We must not let vote contractors and sectorial parties diminish our democratic right to determine our fate and affect the identity of the leadership which will lead the state. A citizen who doesn’t vote should not complain about corruption, defilement, stalemate and inaction, and should not point an accusing finger at those who have led us to the edge of abyss. If we don't stand up and head to the polls, we will continue to march straight into it.
Diplomatic Duties
Piki Ish-Shalom
Op-ed: The erosion of Israel's international standing is an strategic threat being met by useless policy based on inaction, as though this were sustainable or beneficial to anyone.
The occupation must end. It harms and tears, spills our sons' blood and consumes our mental power. The occupation corrupts the army and the people. The occupation prevents growth, expands gaps and uses up the budget, drives us away from our friends and weakens us vis-à-vis the real threats we are facing. A party which will not make this goal its top priority will not have my vote.
Hawara Checkpoint. 'The occupation corrupts the army and the people. It prevents growth, expands gaps and uses up the budget, drives us away from our friends and weakens us vis-à-vis the real threats we are facing' (Photo: AP)
The only general who should be given a secured spot in the ruling party is one who can lead to the end of the occupation. A responsible leadership has no right to exist if it is incapable of using Israel's military strength in order to reach an agreement which will guarantee peace and security.
It was a crime to end Operation Protective Edge without a peace process that would combine a full reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, a diplomatic arrangement with the help of our neighbors and friends in the international community, and of course peace and security in the south. The mothers in the Gaza vicinity are entitled to raise their children securely after the heavy price of the war in the south. A leadership which failed to do that should step down and make room for a new leadership.
I believe that the Tzipi-Buji duo can lead us there with greater responsibility than the Miri-Bibi duo or, God forbid, Shaked and Bennett.
My roots are in Israel. My children are members of a third generation in the country. We have all fought and contributed to strengthen and fortify the state. As Zionist liberals, seculars and believers, we must not give up the right to live in a safe and thriving country, in an egalitarian society which respects every person regardless of who he is.
I am in favor of practical Zionism – two states for two people – which creates a place for us and for our neighbors, unlike the messianic and fanatical Zionism, which is leading us to an apartheid state and a collapse of the Zionist idea.
The state is in one of the worst crises in its history. We received the achievements of the previous generations as a deposit from the generation of our parents and leaders, and it is our duty to hand the state over to our children in its best form: A state whose leadership is free of corruption and which is led through a policy that pursues peace, equality and prosperity.
Let's leave behind the disappointment and frustration, and vote for a responsible and worthy ruling party. Let's vote so that our children will have something to pass on to their children.
Brigadier General (res.) Giora Inbar, a businessman and social entrepreneur, served as commander of the IDF's Lebanon Division, the Givati Brigade and the elite Shaldag Unit.
