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Photo: Ido Erez
Naftali Bennett
Photo: Ido Erez

Bennett: Politicians shouldn't pass the buck to the IDF

In an interview with Ynet, the education minister responded negatively to Minister Yuval Steinitz's assertion that responsibility for lack of preparedness for tunnels rests on the IDF and Moshe Ya'alon; 'It's not right that a politician throws responsibility on a military actor—that's not the system of values I was taught.'

Minister of Education Naftali Bennett responded to the assertion by Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz that the responsibility for the lack of preparedness against the Hamas tunnel threat rests on then then-Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and then-Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.

 

 

In an interview with Ynet on Thursday, Bennett said, "It's not right that a politician throws responsibility on a military actor—that's not the system of values I was taught.

 

"It's no secret that a year and a half before Operation Protective Edge the political establishment made no preparations for the attack tunnels. Until June 30th (2014) when I brought a plan to destroy the tunnels to the cabinet, nothing happened, and there was overwhelming opposition to the plan. It took 18 or 19 days and three attacks until the political establishment gave the order to go in and destroy the tunnels."

 

Minister Naftali Bennett (Photo: Gil Yohanan) (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Minister Naftali Bennett (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

 

The controversy surrounding the tunnels heated up this week following the publication of a report by the State Comptroller on operation Protective Edge. According to sources, the report is expected to highlight the poor level of preparedness on the part of both the political and military establishment. Drafts have already been sent to those involved and have provoked accusations and infighting between members of the cabinet, including Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

The current storm happened as a result of the publishing of several report findings by an IDF committee that determined that, among other things, ground forces had no organized plan to deal with tunnels.

 

Photo: Reuters (Photo: Reuters)
Photo: Reuters

 

On Wednesday, Steinitz said, "I checked the minutes of cabinet meetings in the two years before Operation Protective Edge. The issue of tunnels was brought up constantly and each time, the prime minister emphasized the need to plan for the tunnels and deal with them. This is probably more of a question for Moshe Ya'alon or the chief of staff that the army wasn't ready. The army was aware, but not prepared."

 

Bennett was asked about Steinitz's comments and responded, "We need to focus primarily on how to deal with the problem and only if we're honest with ourselves about what happened. I'm not looking for heads or scapegoats; I'm looking to tomorrow for the next threat."

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.20.16, 14:49
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