Army chief says situation still fragile
Photo: Yael Bar-Hillel, IDF
'Insubordination does not exist’
Petitions calling for insubordination among soldiers should not be overestimated, army chief says; vows to dismiss anyone who refuses orders
TEL AVIV - There has not been any army insubordination over the intention to evacuate settlers, merely petitions and public relations campaigns, IDF Chief-of-Staff Moshe Yaalon says.
“Whoever refuses an order won’t stay with us,” he told the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday.
Yaalon said he ordered IDF soldiers to refrain from signing political petitions, and added that a letter signed by reserve officers who object to settlement evacuation several weeks ago was a minor incident.
'Palestinians must act against terror'
Addressing renewed contacts with the Palestinians, Yaalon said the army clearly sees an opportunity, but security interests must be safeguarded.
“We must closely follow and examine the Palestinians’ real intentions,” he said.
The situation is still fragile, Yaalon said, and added that the Palestinians are currently dealing with a state of anarchy.
“At this time, the situation is defined as a ‘calm’ and not a cease-fire,” he said. “Mahmoud Abbas is still discussing disarmament with the Hamas.”
Israel would not be satisfied with a mere deployment of Palestinian troops, the army chief said, and wants to see the Palestinian Authority take steps to investigate terrorists and bring them to justice.
“We don’t intend to wait for months, they must take care of terror organizations,” he said.
Keeping an eye on the Hizbullah
Yaalon also briefed Committee members on the crisis in contacts regarding the handover of West Bank towns to the Palestinians. Despite Saeb Erekat’s claims that the issue has been resolved, disagreements are still standing, he said.
“Jericho was supposed to be controlled by the Palestinians by now, but they created a crisis,” Yaalon said. A nearby village should remain under Israeli control for the time being, he said, because it dominates a main road.
Yaalon added that the Hizbullah might escalate the situation on the northern front, in order to undermine Palestinian-Israeli contacts.
“The army’s working assumption is to maintain maximal alert in all matters related to the northern front,” he said.
