Times of Israel: Former defense officials back US return to Iran deal, urge new long-term pact
Over 20 former senior military and intelligence officials in Israel sent a letter Monday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz backing a US return to the Iran nuclear deal, while calling for a new international agreement that will curtail Tehran’s military activities in the region.
The letter, dispatched by former IDF deputy chief of staff Matan Vilnai — also a former Labor minister — welcomed the Biden administration’s efforts to reengage with Iran.
CIS welcomes Sec. Pompeo...
Upon his arrival in Israel (5.13.20), US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, will be unable to ignore CIS billboards, including two situated directly in front of his Jerusalem hotel.
In both Hebrew and English, the billboards, as well as full page ads in the Israeli press, will convey a message from the 300 members of CIS:
"Unilateral annexation threatens Israel's security".
Ami Ayalon, Former Shin Bet, Calling on Gantz to NOT AGREE to any unilateral annexation
Channel 12 - Meet the Press | 4.4.20
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Gantz and Ashkenazi: prevent a government they might join from taking any unilateral annexation measure
Ha’aretz featured a full-page CIS ad whose translation is enclosed. In it, 220 generals and equivalents, including former direct commanders and subordinates of Gantz and Ashkenazi, call upon them to prevent a government they might join from taking any unilateral annexation measure.
- For the translated Ad [PDF] » click here.
- For the Hebrew Ad [PDF] » click here.
CIS in an urgent message to Knesset: Lack of parliamentary oversight undermines national security
3.19.2020
In the face of an unprecedented assault on Israel’s democratic norms and institutions, among other steps, earlier today, CIS issued the following statement (already picked up by the press):
The Chairperson of Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS), former member of the Security Cabinet and Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs committee, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Matan Vilnai, sent a clear message to Knesset Chairman, MK Yuli Edelstein, and to the chairs of Knesset factions:
The absence of Parliamentary oversight over the government activity in the realm of security as well as in other areas, via the Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs committee, constitutes a security negligence, undermines national cohesiveness and endangers our democracy!
The state of Israel is dealing with one of the most severe crises since its founding. The public is in a state of uncertainty and is concerned about the future. At such an hour, when public confidence in the governing authorities is more essential than ever, Knesset oversight of government decisions, particularly as they relate to national security, is vital.
On behalf of the hundreds of CIS members, I call upon Knesset Chairman, Yuli Edelstein, and all leaders of Knesset factions to decide immediately on the formation of an interim Security and Foreign Affairs committee that secures transparent oversight of the security agencies, which is essential for public trust in them.
Trashing the norms and institutions of our democracy endangers our national security.
A CIS Position Statement Regarding The American Plan and Annexation
CIS welcomes any effort to renew the national discussion over the necessity of separating from the Palestinians in a two-state agreement, and the prime minister’s endorsement of this solution. However, the Movement warns against any attempt to use the initiative for unilateral annexation.
Whether the American initiative serves as a basis for future negotiations – which Israel will enter after the prime minister accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state over 70% of the West Bank and additional 14% of sovereign Israeli territory – or should future conditions for negotiations with the Palestinians result in a different Israeli approach, CIS warns against any attempt to exploit the initiative for a unilateral annexation move.
There is no risk-free unilateral annexation.
The situation does not justify - and certainly does not require - taking unnecessary security risks.
Any unilateral annexation - of a single settlement bloc, all settlements, or the Jordan Valley - undermines Israel’s security:
- Annexation will destabilize the already sensitive relations with Jordan, its regime stability, and bilateral security coordination. The importance of security coordination with Jordan to Israel’s national security, in deterrence, early warning, and in thwarting acts of terror and state aggression from adversaries such as Iran, cannot be overstated. It will be utterly irresponsible to undermine a primary Israeli security interest and bring those risks closer to our border.
- Annexation might bring about the end of security coordination with the Palestinian Authority and possibly its very collapse. Whether this will be due to a Palestinian leadership decision or be forced upon it by popular pressure, terror groups - first among them Hamas - will fill the ensuing security vacuum. To prevent their takeover, the IDF will be forced to reoccupy the entire West Bank. Thereafter, Israel will be responsible for managing the lives of 2.6 million Palestinians. Much of the IDF and Shin Bet’s attention will have to be dedicated to this mission, at the expense of preparedness for security challenges to the north (Syria, Lebanon), east (Iran) and south (Hamas). All this with no exit strategy from the trap of a bi-national state.
- Annexation is expected to increase the level of violence from Gaza, both directly and via the West Bank. This will force the IDF to reoccupy Gaza as well and to run the lives of its two million Palestinians. Here too with no exit strategy.
CIS supports the annexation of major settlement blocs as part of an agreement with the Palestinians.
But what is a legitimate demand in negotiations is likely to prove destructive when done unilaterally.
Regardless of our judgement of any facet of the American initiative, it incorporate two unacceptable precedents:
- Abandoning over 14,000 Israelis, residents of 15 isolated settlements, at the heart of the territory earmarked for the State of Palestine. Protecting them will be a security nightmare.
- The possibility of including the Arab Triangle, and its 250,000 Israeli Arab citizens, in the area designated for transfer to Palestinian sovereignty. Beyond being morally reprehensible, the very consideration of the idea would severely undermine the process of integration of Arab citizens into Israeli society. The worrisome phenomena of very few Israeli Arabs who over the years cooperated with Israel’s enemies might evolve into a flood, once Arab citizens see no value in loyalty to the state. The price will be paid not only by the Shin Bet, which will face an unprecedented challenge, but by the general public as well.
Given irresponsible calls for ‘annexation now’ on the one hand, and the dim prospects of an imminent two-state solution on the other, CIS determines that reducing tensions between the two peoples and preserving conditions for a future agreement mandate civilian separation from the Palestinians while maintaining the present security deployment until negotiations permit otherwise, all as detailed in our Security First plan.
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Why Did Israeli Generals Write to Netanyahu?
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Rolly Gueron Explains Why West Bank Annexation Should Stay Out Of Coalition Talks
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Annexation under the Cover of Corruption
Ben Dror Yemini | May 25, 2019 | Yedioth Ahronoth
The justified preoccupation with immunity and corruption makes us forget the danger that clauses on full or partial annexation are now being inserted into the coalition agreements. Most Israelis oppose annexation, including those who have no enthusiasm for a Palestinian state. But among MKs from the coalescing coalition – there is a majority. Against this backdrop, Commanders for Israel's Security sent a letter to the Prime Minister - signed by hundreds of former senior officers in the defense establishment - asking him either not to annex, or to hold a national referendum if and when the government decides on annexation.
They write, among other things, "Applying Israeli law to Judea and Samaria, in whole or in part, other than as part of a negotiated agreement, will result in a chain reaction that will seriously compromise Israel's security, economy and its regional and global status... Annexation without an agreement endangers Israel’s security and the lives of its residents... What will begin as the application of sovereignty to a limited area will necessarily deteriorate into full annexation of the West Bank with its millions of Palestinian residents."
In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, “Those 'experts' supported the nuclear agreement with Iran and warned, 'Bibi has made a navigation error and is destroying the alliance with America'." A crushing response? Not exactly. For two reasons.
First, because the alliance with the Trump administration is definitely important, but that is not an alliance with America. Israel is gradually losing the support of Democrats and of the American Jewish community. It is true that that is mainly because of mendacious propaganda against Israel, but not only. It also has to do with Netanyahu.
Secondly, many experts have erred repeatedly. Regarding Iran, it seems to me that there is no need to support every measure made by Netanyahu to know that he was actually right. Iran exploited the nuclear agreement to expand its destructive influence, increas the danger to the State of Israel, develop more and more missiles, and to undermine governments in Arab states. Just like Jihad, it seeds destruction and ruin wherever it is. And thanks to the nuclear agreement.
But just like defense experts err, just like Kennedy and Churchill erred quite a few times, Netanyahu is also wrong. Big time. In 2002, he was among those who urged the American administration to attack Iraq. "There must be no mistake on this matter," Netanyahu told Congress. "The moment that Saddam has nuclear weapons, the network of terrorist organizations will have nuclear weapons too." Israel's semi-official position was the opposite. Then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opposed Netanyahu's position and tried to persuade US President George W. Bush that Iran, not Iraq, was the problem.
In any event, according to a study by Prof. Dov Waxman, Israel did not push the United States into confrontation. But good souls spread Netanyahu's position to undermine his position on Iran. He was wrong about Iraq. That does not mean that he is wrong about Iran.
To the same degree, the fact that defense experts have erred on various issues does not lead to the conclusion that they are wrong now.
Because annexation is a different story altogether. There is no need to wait for the future to know that annexation means the establishment of a Judeo-Arab entity. Mixing hostile populations necessarily ends in bloodshed.
Some right-wingers dream of encouraging Palestinian emigration from Israel. These are fantasies. Even assuming that 20,000 Palestinians leave the territories every year, as the right claims, because of their birthrate, the proportion of Arabs between the Jordan and Sea will grow.
Even without a Palestinian state, which the Palestinians do not want, annexation means a bi-national state, with full civil rights or without rights. In any case, the result is one and the same: the end of Zionism. The conclusion is not despair. There are interim solutions based on civil and demographic separation - even if not total - while retaining security control. In any event, there is no need to wait for the future to know that when it comes to annexation, the defense experts are right.
CIS Response to the Exposure of the Sovereignty Movement’s Activity
February 12, 2019
Commanders for Israel's Security responds to the activity of the "Sovereignty Movement”, as exposed on Ynet (Eng Ver click here) today.
"Today, the extreme right's mode of operation for annexing millions of Palestinians was revealed. Undetected, a right-wing extremist group is working to ensure that the next government will implement its plan.
Although most of the Israeli public understands the destructive implications of annexation, utterly opposes it, and is unaware of the measures to realize this horror scenario, the Sovereignty Movement creates facts on the ground, mobilizes extreme right-wing politicians and lays the groundwork for implementing the move.”
It is now clear that these are not merely delusional dreams. The declarations favoring annexation, or using the laundered term "application of sovereignty," frequently delivered by extreme right-wing politicians, are public expressions of a well thought-out plan developed in hiding, whose implementation began during the term of the outgoing government. With backwind of the support they have mobilized so far, the annexationists no longer hide their intentions, openly proclaiming their determination to accomplish the feat during the term of the next government, leading to the destruction of Israel as a Jewish, secure and democratic state."
According to CIS, "The annexation pressure is on. The pressure exerted on politicians to express support for annexation are but the prelude to the pressure to be exerted on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, if elected, to commit to annexation as a condition for forming the next government.
If the annexation move is not halted immediately, we will wake up to a different Israel during the term of the next government, without a solid Jewish majority and all the security and other implications of integrating millions of Palestinians into the State of Israel. This pressure should be stopped right now.
According to Commanders for Israel's Security, "We call on all heads of the Zionist parties to express a clear position against the annexation plan and in favor of the State of Israel.
“CIS is a non-partisan movement comprising retired senior members of the defense establishment. Its 286 former senior commanders from the IDF, Shin Bet, Mossad and Israel Police are united in a mission to ensure a strong, democratic Israel with a solid Jewish majority for generations to come.” Security-political initiatives developed by teams of the CIS security experts have been presented to the public and decision-makers.