An international force including a mixture of moderate Arab countries should take charge of civilian life in Gaza once Israel ends its operations there, Likud MK and former ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
According to Danon, “In terms of security Israel must keep its own agenda and be able to move in and out whenever necessary,” but in terms of civilian life, “an international force including a mixture of moderate Arab countries should take charge.” This, Danon says, could also be the key to a future normalization with these countries.
However, Danon says that “before we talk about the day after, we must take care of today,” mentioning Rafiah and the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt as areas where Israel still needs to operate.
Should the IDF's operation in Gaza change its course?
Danon criticized the government’s decision to scale back operations in Gaza.
“The way we conducted the war in the beginning was very successful... and I think we should continue the same way,” Danon says. This brought what he calls “amazing results” both in terms of hurting Hamas and releasing hostages, adding that the fact that we are marking 100 days of Israeli citizens in captivity just exacerbates this point.Asked whether he agrees with what appears to be the government’s decision to continue the fight against Hamas even at the cost of losing a hostage deal, Danon says that this is correct, and that Israel must apply more pressure – not less – in order to bring about a deal.
He adds that any changes on the border between Gaza and Egypt should be carried out on the Gazan side so as not to endanger Israel and Egypt’s peace agreement, and Danon sees no reason for Egypt to object. An international presence including Israel should be present at the border point in order to preventt the smuggling of weapons over and underground into Gaza, he says.
Danon also supports what he calls “voluntary emigration” of Gazan citizens. However, he does not support Jewish resettlement of Gaza. He understands the “nostalgia” of Israelis for the Strip, but believes that a buffer zone of three kilometers is sufficient to ensure the safety of Israelis, and Jewish resettlement is unnecessary.
Danon served as ambassador to the UN, and strongly condemns South Africa’s accusation at the Hague that Israel is committing genocide. South Africa, Danon explains, sided with a terrorist organization and ignored the Hamas massacre in its move against Israel at the ICJ. He expects the international community to condemn South Africa for this, and thanks Germany for siding with Israel. Israel takes all the measures it can to avoid harming civilians,Danon says, but “the days where Jews are massacred and raped is over.”
Danon refuses to say whether or not he will run for the head of the Likud ahead of a possible election. It’s too early to talk about politics, he says, and the prime minister must be focused on the war, as should all other defense and military officials.
“But we all realize that Israel will not be the same after October 7... and this includes changes in the political arena,” Danon says.