Ashkenazi: Israel should make peace with neighbors

In former chief of staff's farewell appearance at Foreign Affairs and Defense C'tee, Rivlin says: Ashkenazi will one day have a Knesset seat.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
ashkenazi is a suit 311 (photo credit: Avi Hayun)
ashkenazi is a suit 311
(photo credit: Avi Hayun)
Former chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi called on the government to work towards making peace treaties with Israel's neighbors during a farewell appearance before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday.
"Other countries [in the region] should be removed from the cycle of conflict with Israel and added to the [list] of countries like Egypt and Jordan, with whom we have strategically important peace treaties," Ashkenazi told the committee.
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During the committee session, several MKs expressed their regret for the manner which forced the end of his command [as chief of General Staff]. Some of the MKs criticized the treatment he received from Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Ashkenazi, however, distanced himself from the criticism of Barak, saying he would not delve into politics while still in uniform.
Speaking at the farewell meeting, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that the former IDF chief of General Staff will "one day have a seat in the Knesset, it is just a question of when." The "Ashkenazi Law," meant to shorten the "cooling off" period IDF officers must wait before entering politics from three years to 18 months, recently failed to pass in the Knesset.
Committee Chairman and former IDF chief of General Staff Shaul Mofaz praised Ashkenazi, saying that "in the four years you served as chief of staff, the one thing that stands out most was the fortification of the state of Israel's defense forces."