Strategically Sound

May 29, 2008

Major General (ret.) Shlomo Gazit, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, and current adjunct senior research fellow at The Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, op-ed in Ma’ariv “Suddenly It’s Not Legal,” May 28, 2008 (translated by Middle East Bulletin):

“There is truth to the argument that in a military confrontation with Syria, there is a significant advantage to having the IDF deployed on the Golan. This argument, however, disregards a few important facts: The continued presence in the Golan ensures with certainty a military confrontation in the foreseeable future. We know that Syria is preparing to exercise this option through an arsenal of missiles that put all of Israel in reach. … Damascus is also conducting a policy of shedding Israeli blood by proxy—Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian terror organizations. The war two years ago might not have happened had there been peace with Syria. And finally, Israel’s goal is not a tahdia (calm), but a strategic peace with Damascus.”



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