Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi told Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee members that "in the current state we must preserve our strategic assets, such as the peace with Egypt and Jordan, and even strive to expand it and take out more neighboring countries from the conflict cycle."
He added: "In the neighborhood where we live it's still important to maintain a strong army so as to guarantee the existence of the State of Israel. There is no other country in the West that has experienced six to seven wars in its 63 years of existence. This neighborhood is no place for the weak." (Roni Sofer)