No. 2 on Kahlon party list calls for peace deal that will also enhance country’s security.
By NIV ELISYoav Galant (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Koolanu’s No. 2 candidate, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Galant, presented the party’s five-point security policy on Tuesday.He outlined the principles of zero tolerance against terrorism, deterrence, negotiating a peace deal that would enhance security, keeping agreed-upon settlement blocks, and making the defense budget more efficient.Speaking at the Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem, Galant said Israel should defend territories under its control at any price.“Fire from Gaza will not be accepted. Stabbing in Jerusalem will not be accepted, nor running people over or other terrorist attacks,” he said. Only by being strong, he said, was Israel able to make peace with Egypt and Jordan, and its strength would need to be maintained against terror, guerrillas and nuclear challenges.Deterrence, he said, must be clear and immediate, and comprise of “an iron fist and aggression toward attackers alongside understanding, cooperation and compassion toward those who maintain the law in Israel.”Regarding the Palestinians, Galant said, “We have to arrive at an agreement with the Palestinians, but it can only happen in a situation in which Israel has more security, not less security,” he said, adding: “I don’t want 8 million Palestinians in the State of Israel.”The 2004 letter from US president George W. Bush to prime minister Ariel Sharon on the peace process should be the basis of a deal, he said. While there was agreement on settlement blocks that would stay under Israeli control – the fourth point in the plan – there were steps Israel could take to ease life for the Palestinians. On these points Galant echoed fellow party candidate Michael Oren’s diplomatic stance, reported first in The Jerusalem Post last week.Galant’s final point addressed the defense budget, a constant sore point for economists and the Finance Ministry. The budget, he said, must be made more efficient, adding that it was “too big for Israel and too small against the threat.” The solution he proposed, which he has touted in recent weeks, was laying out a fixed, multi-year budget for the Defense Ministry, a move that he said would lead it to squeezing inefficiencies out of the system.
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