The comments came in a speech he made to Navy reserves. He pointed out that when Jewish religious settlers known for murdering Palestinians to push them off of their land in the occupied West Bank are recruited into the Israeli army, it makes sense to worry that they might also kill Palestinians while they are in uniform serving their country. After all, Israeli soldiers and drones have been killing numerous Palestinian civilians during the entire war in Gaza.
Ya'alon, who was the Israeli Minister of Defense from 2013 to 2016 under current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that he personally put a stop to past attempts to assassinate the head of the Hamas military, Mohammed Deif, as well as its founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, because he feared that the operation could put innocent lives in danger. The IDF has since assassinated Deif, killing him in a July air strike that also killed 90 individuals and wounded 300.
Ya’alon also shared his belief that some of the religious settler leaders who are in Israel’s current government wish to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Two prominent members of this movement, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have been open about their desire to cleanse these areas of Palestinians and take over their land for Jewish settlement, and both men wield considerable influence over Netanyahu’s government.
He also believes that these leaders want to provoke the apocalyptic war known as the battle of Gog and Magog that was prophesized in Jewish scripture.
Smotrich has made headlines for his harsh rhetoric against Palestinians and his repeated insistence that he will annex the West Bank.
He said earlier this month: “My life’s mission is to build the Land of Israel and thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger the State of Israel.”
Far-right Israeli cabinet members oppose Lebanon ceasefire proposal
Smotrich was one of the key cabinet members who opposed a ceasefire proposal by the U.S., EU and other allies. The call for a 21-day stop to fighting in Lebanon came after Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah there resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, along with the displacement of tens of thousands of individuals.
However, Smotrich put an end to any hopes of a ceasefire, writing on X: "The campaign in the north should end with a single result: crushing Hezbollah and elimination of its ability to harm the residents of the north. The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows it has suffered and reorganise itself to continue the war after 21 days.”
He was joined by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who said: "There will be no ceasefire in the north. We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes."
With Netanyahu’s coalition depending on support from Smotrich and other members of the far right, Ya’alon’s fears could prove to be well founded. Some soldiers are already facing military court trials over charges of abusing Palestinian detainees, and there are numerous accounts of Palestinian detainees at the Israeli military base detention camp Sde Teiman being tortured and abused.
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