MUST READ — Former top Israeli domestic intelligence Shin Beth chief Ami Ayalon to Le Figaro on what went wrong in Israel:
“A large part of the responsibility lies of course with the government.
The commanders of all security organizations told [Netanyahu] that the policy conducted was bad and that it was obvious that it would be used by our enemies.
They perceived a moment of great division around the crisis caused in the country by the justice reform.
Of course, politicians did not listen.
Especially with regard to the warnings about the West Bank.
The Israeli government has done everything to ensure that Fatah and the Palestinian Authority are no longer a partner, because they have given power to Hamas.
Yes, we have no choice but to destroy the Ezzeddine al-Qassam Brigades. But we should totally change our policy in order to create a Palestinian partner.
We must say from the outset that our war is not against the Palestinian people.
Our war is against the military wing of Hamas.
Even before we attack, we should say that we want to create a reality in which we talk with the Palestinians, who accept the peace initiatives and want to discuss with us the reality of two states.
But I don't think any Israeli government will agree to do that today.
And yet, if we don't, we will see an upsurge in violence.
Even today, Israel refuses to admit that the Palestinians are a nation. Economic development is not enough for them. They want freedom, they want to see an end to the occupation.
QUESTION; Do you think the events of the weekend would have been avoided if the Palestinian question had been resolved with the creation of a Palestinian state?
“Yes, of course. Look at our concept of security in Israel. Until the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago, we preferred land to peace, because peace was not important to us.
Our goal was security. It wasn't until the shock of the Yom Kippur War that we came to the conclusion that to have security, you need peace.
We only made peace with Egypt because of the trauma of Yom Kippur, and we only started negotiating with the Palestinians in Madrid, and then in Oslo, because of the first Intifada.
Finally, we left Lebanon only because of Shiite terror and suicide bombings. We withdrew from Gaza only because of the second Intifada.
The international community played a major role in all these cases.
Today we are living through a tragedy and nobody cares. We can't blame anyone. No one can save us in spite of ourselves.
