'According to Lieberman, Ya'alon's excellence ended a moment before officers' course'
Photo: Gil Yohanan
A promising strategist in the Defense Ministry
Op-ed: Unlike Ya'alon, the 'outstanding soldier' who 'no one takes seriously,' Lieberman will seat Nasrallah and Haniyeh on a tiny stool and invite cameras to show the world who's boss – just like his former deputy did to the Turkish ambassador.
One has to be amazed by Avigdor Lieberman's
rare ability not only to diagnose problems, but also to perfectly define them and come up with the right solutions. A master craftsman providing an excellent diagnosis and outstanding prognosis. For example, his recent comments
on Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's skills.
"Ya'alon," he said, with a hint of a grin on his face, "was an excellent soldier, but as defense minister he is not being taken seriously."
In front of the nation, without blinking, in a quiet and restrained voice, without criticizing and without getting carried away, the foreign minister made it clear to us who is running our defense establishment and what it says about our situation.
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We should pay close attention to the wording, because the wording is an inseparable part of the diagnosis: "A soldier," Lieberman said. Not, let's say, a good chief of staff, or perhaps a successful Central Command chief, or maybe an admired division or brigade commander, or even a worthy officer. By no means. Ya'alon's excellence, according to Lieberman, ended a moment before he was accepted into the officers' course.
And so it just happened that this outstanding soldier was appointed as defense minister over our heads, and there is no wonder that "no one," according to Lieberman, "takes him seriously." Neither Hamas nor Hezbollah nor our Arab neighbors, and not even the Americans. And if that were not enough, Lieberman has diagnosed another problem: Ya'alon's slips of the tongue, which he has been required to apologize for repeatedly.
Lieberman will not settle for tiny stools. He will also show whoever needs showing exactly what Israel is capable of doing (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Lieberman know very well that more is less, so he is certain that we will be able to understand the end of the sentence ourselves, especially when he hinted only two days earlier, or even told us, that he would demand the defense portfolio. Not the public security portfolio, if anyone misunderstood, but the defense portfolio.
After the disease has been detected, the remedy arrives. Because we have no one else like Lieberman to make it clear, to all those who don’t take Ya'alon seriously, exactly who's boss. Who, if not Lieberman, will seat Hassan Nasrallah and Ismail Haniyeh, separately and together, on a stool – a tiny stool – and invite the cameras to signal to the entire world who is at the bottom and who is on top. Just like his former deputy did to the Turks in the commander's spirit. Such a wise and brave move, filled with respect and honor, which we have yet to reap all the good fruits of until now.
Moreover, we should know that Lieberman will not settle for tiny stools. If we can rely on his own testimony, he will also show whoever needs showing exactly what Israel is capable of doing. Under him, Protective Edge 2 or 3 will not be completed without the occupation of Gaza, and an incident in the north will not end with less than flattening Beirut or Damascus or both. We have already noted that respect is not a matter for people who were outstanding soldiers.
And what about the Americans? As we know, Lieberman is a beloved guest in the White House corridors, and definitely in the Pentagon rooms. The fact that Hillary Clinton went to great lengths not to meet him when they both served as foreign ministers, neither here nor in Washington, is her problem. The fact is that John Kerry arrived, and our Foreign Ministry went out of its way to update all of us that the hotline between the two bureaus was working again. A huge move of deep friendship.
And what about the outstanding foreign minister's support for Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych? It was a special distinction in long-term vision. So was his decision to cool down the relations. So were his decisions to greatly warm up the relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and declare, publicly, that the election in which his friend Putin was reelected was so democratic, a moment after the Americans said the exact opposite.
In short, Avigdor Lieberman, who only accidentally was not an outstanding soldier too, is the right person in the right place, at the IDF headquarters at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv.
And how will a person, who unfortunately did not get the chance to be an outstanding soldier, learn what is an army, how do division move from place to place, and what is the difference between the occupation of Gaza by mere words – two million people on a completely fortified area – and actual occupation?
Come on, that's a minor issue. It's unskilled labor fit for that outstanding soldier, Ya'alon, not for Lieberman, the promising strategist.
And the dead people, both here and there, children and adults? They will not be buried by Lieberman.
