Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon officially took up his new role as Israel’s defense
minister on Tuesday during a ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tel
Aviv.
Outgoing defense minister Ehud Barak told Ya’alon, “You’re
receiving a system that is in good, loyal, professional hands, which understands
where we live, and where we are going.”
Barak added, “We have to fight
for the things we have to fight for, and to accept the decisions when the
government takes them. And then move to the other side of the table, and carry
out the[required] work.
Enormous work is being done to fortify and
strengthen the state’s security.”
Barak described Ya’alon as a “person
who, in and out of uniform, knows where he stands, is stable, doesn’t wobble,
says what he thinks, and does what he says. He is there.”
He made
reference to previous disagreements with Ya’alon in the inner cabinet, but added
that they had agreed to “work as a government… to sit together, to see what is
right and what isn’t right to do.”
Ya’alon said that “the very fact that
I knew everyone’s name at roll call – major-generals, people from the ministry of
defense – is sign that I haven’t gotten very far from the security-military
experience.”
The new defense minister spoke of feeling a great burden of
responsibility upon taking up the position.
“I remember how I felt the
load lighten when I completed my term as chief of staff, and this morning I feel
the load back on my shoulders,” he said. He expressed hope that the defense
community would be able to bring “security, quiet, in and in the future,
perhaps, peace, in light of Israel’s power.”