A former chief of Israel’s home safety drive Shin Bet has argued that the nation’s safety is intricately tied to the institution of a Palestinian state. In an interview with The Guardian, Ami Ayalon, a retired admiral who additionally commanded Israel’s navy, dismissed the concept of destroying Hamas as an unrealistic army aim and cautioned that the continued operations in Gaza would possibly bolster help for the group moderately than weaken it.
“We Israelis may have safety solely once they, Palestinians, may have hope. This is the equation,” he was quoted as saying. “To say the identical in army language: you can’t deter anybody, an individual or a bunch, if he believes he has nothing to lose.”
While Ayalon acknowledged the character of Israel’s retaliatory actions in response to the October 7 assault by Hamas as simply, he burdened that many Israelis fail to acknowledge that Hamas doesn’t signify all Palestinians.
According to Ayalon, the prevalent Israeli perception that each one Palestinians help or are affiliated with Hamas poses a big impediment to acknowledging the legitimacy of the Palestinian identification and their rightful declare to statehood.
He proposed releasing Marwan Barghouti, a jailed chief serving a life sentence for his function within the second intifada, as an important step in direction of significant negotiations. Ayalon argued that Barghouti’s reputation in Palestinian polls and dedication to a two-state resolution make him a possible chief for peace talks.
“Look into the Palestinian polls. He is the one chief who can lead Palestinians to a state alongside Israel. First of all as a result of he believes within the idea of two states, and secondly as a result of he gained his legitimacy by sitting in our jails.
Ayalon lamented the shortage of acceptance of different viewpoints and urged a shift from the mindset of hatred as a plan or coverage. He warned towards perpetuating battle and not using a clear political aim, drawing parallels with previous Israeli experiences in Lebanon and the West Bank.
“I’m so upset that we aren’t keen to debate the day after. Because I do know what occurs to wars and not using a political aim. The struggle turns into a aim in itself, as an alternative of being a way to attain a political aim,” he mentioned. “We are consultants: that is precisely what occurred to us in Lebanon, that is precisely what occurred to us within the West Bank. And I’m afraid that that is what’s going to occur if we go on combating with out defining a transparent essence of victory. What is a victory?
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