Gen. Amos Gilad gives an overview of Israel’s strategic environment.
Currently, Israel is living in a relatively good strategic environment. We are not facing imminent war and have not faced a hostile coalition since the 1970s. We seem to have defeated suicide terror, at least temporarily.
In the end he concludes:
Iran is trying to convince some states in the Middle East that this is the era of the Iranian Empire. It is not only Israel who is threatened. Iran has global ambitions to become a superpower that is recognized by the whole world, like the empire of Cyrus the Great.
This is the main challenge to the entire world and I hope we will be united against it. I am not sure that the diplomatic option will be effective enough to prevent it, and we have to measure success based on results. There are other options, but I am against boasting and declarations. All options are on the table and, at the end of the day, Israel will make its own decision.
Towards the beginning Gen. Gilad writes something that’s likely to get lost:
We in Israel are determined to have a real peace agreement with the Palestinians. Our goal is to have two states for two peoples living side-by-side in peace and security. This policy is easy to define, but it is very difficult to achieve. The main issue for Israel is the security issue.
The Palestinian Authority is split into two entities. Israel is ready to sign a peace deal with the Palestinians. This is the policy of the State of Israel. But we need to sign an agreement with the entities that represent both Gaza and the West Bank.
We are able to discuss this policy at all only because of the unprecedented success of the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank. Between 2000 and 2002, Israel did not have great success in preventing Palestinian suicide bombers from targeting Israel’s major cities. The only reason that we are living quietly today is our success in identifying the terrorists and enhancing the cooperation between intelligence and the army.
Operation Defensive Shield worked. It’s a point that doesn’t get mentioned much as the peace processors have seized the day, the initiative and the talking points. In order for there to be peace there needs to be an agreement.
More importantly, as Gen. Gilad points out, the terrorists must be defeated. And though he doesn’t write it, the Palestinians must accept Israel’s right to exist. No number of agreements or Israeli concessions will ever be enough if that premise doesn’t exist.
Overall it’s an interesting read. I think that Gen. Gilad is a bit too complacent about Hamas. And it’s interesting that both Hamas and Hezbollah consider Al Qaeda an enemy.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
