Netanyahu responds to Ya’alon resignation
As Prime Minister Netanyhu expresses his disappointment over Ya'alon's resignation, calls on Zionist Union to join his government; Herzog meanwhile calls on Ya'alon to join him and his party
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a rather cutting response in the wake of resigning Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s Friday press conference, in which he resigned from the government and from political life in general.
“I suppose that if Ya’alon wouldn’t have been asked to leave the Ministry of Defense for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the so-caled 'crisis of confidence' between us, and he wouldn't have resigned."
During his own statement, Ya’alon gave several thinly-veiled criticisms of Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu Party Chairperson Avigdor Lieberman, who is set to replace Ya’alon as the minister of defense.
"I'm sorry about Ya'alon's decision. I think that he needs to remain a full partner in the state's leadership and stay on as Defense Minister. I would like to thank him for his years of service in the IDF and the security establishment. I really appreciate our cooperation in keeping Israel safe day and night – including during Operation Protective Edge."
Netanyahu continued, saying "this change in ministerial allocation isn't a result of a crisis of confidence between the two of us, but as a result of the need to put together a government and to bring stability to Israel in the face of the enormous challenges which lay before us."
Netanyahu also repeated his position that the IDF is beholden to the political leadership of the country, hinting at the dispute between himself and Ya'alon.
"I want to clarify; the IDF is a moral army," Netanyahu said. "It is a military which keeps to the highest ethical code – the most important of which is maintaining a purity of arms. There is not nor will there ever be any disagreement on this. The IDF is also a military comprised of all its citizens, and I believe that the IDF should be kept out of politics. Attempting to involve the military and high ranking officers in politics is unacceptable and endangers democracy. In a democracy, the military is beholden to the political leadership - not the other way around."
Netanyahu continued by saying "the Likud party believes in democracy. The Likud is a liberal, national movement - a movement which must maintain Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The Likud reflects the national mainstream, and is bound to the security of the state and by the desire for peace. The face of the government is peace."
"There are opportunities in the political sphere, especially due to certain developments in the region which I personally am working on constantly," the prime minister continued. "It is for this reason that I've been trying with great effort to bring the Zionist Union into the government. I am keeping the door open for them to join and become an addition to the government – something which can only benefit Israel."
Chairman of the opposition and of the Zionist Union, Isaac Herzog, responded to the recent developments on his Facebook page.
"Netanyahu learned the hard way how to deal with people who say 'enough!' We were the ones who said that the attempt to finalize an agreement without signing it was a red line, and we indeed said 'enough!' Last night Orly Levy and today Ya'alon – Netanyahu's colleague from the special forces – said both to the party and to the government; 'enough!'"
Herzog continued, saying "the government needs to be led by responsible people – people who are level headed and have poise. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has turned himself into the secretary for the extreme right, headed by Avigdor, Naftali, and Smotrich."
Reiterating his stated positions from Thursday night, Herzog said "I reiterate my calls for Ya'alon and Orly Levy to join the Zionist Union, a central political party which I established with Tzipi Livni. Livni also used to be a leader in the Likud, and experienced the exact same things as Ya'alon in a party which is supposedly sane, central, and democratic."
'I'm not ready to sacrifice Israel's security over politics'
Moshe Ya'alon officially resigned his post as Defense Minister Friday morning, saying that he had lost confidence in the Prime Minister
"In all my actions and decisions," he wrote. "I saw the security of the state and its wellbeing above every other consideration."
"I found myself in difficult political arguments with the prime minister over core values."
“Regrettably, there are senior politicians in our country who have chosen to incite and split up sections of Israeli society from one another instead of unifying and connecting them. I find it unacceptable that we be divided due to cynicism and lust for power, and I have repeatedly voiced my opinion on the matter out of honest concern for the future of both the current generation in Israel and the ones that will follow," he continued
"Those who lead us must do so based on ethics, an inner compass and at times against an opposing gale-force wind. They should work to outline a path, and not get blown off course for electoral reasons or in light of public surveys, nor should they conduct or agree to any reckless and irresponsible discourse.”
He added that "Fundamentalist influences have taken over Likud. This is not the same Likud that I joined. A spirit of fracturing is ruling the movement.
The outgoing defense minister addressed his work, "I fought with all my strength against the phenomena of extremism, violence and racism in Israeli society that threatens our might and also permeates the IDF, and has already damaged it.
"In the future I will return to contend for Israel's national leadership."
