CHIEF OF STAFF BRIEFING THE FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION, 7.12.04, ON THE
RECORD COMMENTS:
[Provided by the IDF Spokesperson' Office]

Good afternoon.
Thank you for inviting me to speak here today.

We are at an important, strategic crossroad.
It is a decisive time for Israel and the Palestinians, but also for the
entire Middle East.
As such, it is a decisive time for the world.

There are signs of the potential for change across the region.
It is our hope that the forces of modernity and democracy will win over the
forces of dictatorship, intolerance and terror.
There is real opportunity for a decisive, strategic change within the Middle
East.
Such a change may bring democracy and freedom, would allow for a first time
for an open society to develop.
This will serve as the solid foundation for lasting peace in the region.

But there is still clear and present threat from the groups and countries
who don't want to see this happen.
And they use their best weapon to try to stop it: terror.

We see this in our conflict with the Palestinians.
The forces supporting the terror within the West Bank and Gaza in the last
year are the same forces trying to undermine stability in other areas of the
Middle East.
Namely, we are speaking of the Hizbullah, sponsored by Iran and supported by
Syria.

The terror we are facing is both internal and external.
On the one hand, we have the local cells of the Tanzim, Hamas and the
Islamic Jihad.
But at the same time, we have terror coming from outside - terror planned
and financed by Iran, and facilitated by Syria and Lebanon.
While we recognize that we are in a local conflict with the Palestinians, it
is also clearly connected with regional terror -- as we see in the Hizbullah
's aid to Palestinian terror groups, and to global terror -- as we saw in
the attacks aimed at Israelis in Sinai in October.

Today, we are nearly four and a half years into the conflict.
The alerts for attacks -- including suicide attacks within Israel --
continue.
And so our work continues.

Early this morning an IDF soldier was killed, and four wounded.
They were searching for weapons near the Karni crossing in Gaza.
These soldiers were part of our ongoing, daily activity to stop terror
attacks.

Israel has seen many wars since the founding of the state.
Some of them, like the War of Attrition in Sinai and Operation Peace for
Galilee in Lebanon, were also long.
But no conflict or war has been as intense, as long, and as close to home,
as the present conflict with the Palestinians.

Nor has any war been as unconventional as this one.
The number of Israeli dead - one thousand twelve to date - is similar to the
loses we knew in previous wars.
But two-thirds of the dead are civilians.
Here, confronting the enemy does not take place on a battlefield.
It takes place in the crowded alleyways of the Kasbah in Nablus.
It takes place on the roads and at checkpoints.
We didn't choose this different battleground; the Palestinians did.
The Palestinians believed that changing the battleground and the type of
warfare would be to their advantage.

At the end of the day, the role of the IDF has not changed.
It is, and will remain: to protect the citizens of Israel.
That is our job, and that is our duty.
If, in the past, protecting the State of Israel meant patrolling the borders
against enemy tanks and planes, today it means arresting wanted terrorists
in their homes and checking the personal belongings of people at
checkpoints.
The challenge today is not to drive a tank across the desert, but to tell
the difference between a man who wants to go to work and one who has
explosives in his pants.
This is the war we're fighting.

We have seen successes; but we also continue to face challenges, and not
only operational challenges.
First and foremost, and our main success: we have been able to reduce the
terror attacks. That is - save lives. Every day.
Let us be clear: It was only the sustained military effort, starting with
Operation Defensive Shield in the spring of 2002, which brought the
reduction in terror.
The sustained military effort alone is responsible for the quiet you are
enjoying on the streets of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv today.

The statistics are impressive.
Compare the number of Israelis killed in 2002 with 2004.
In 2002, 450 Israelis were killed; this year 107 were killed.
In 2002, 59 suicide attacks took place; this year only 14.
The decrease in terror has other important effects.
The sense of security among Israeli has risen. Now you can see the center
city of Jerusalem full on Saturday night, the tourists are also returning,
and the economy is growing.
I would add that the reduction in terror has also helped the Palestinians.
The economic situation in the West Bank cities is much more stable than it
was two years ago.

And so, we confront terror, and do so successfully, we also confront new
challenges. This type of conflict, this new type of war, presents new
challenges for any army; and not just operational challenges.
It presents real moral and ethical challenges.
These challenges are as important and as essential a part of the conflict as
stopping the suicide bomber.
In this type of conflict, if we lose the moral high ground, it will
undermine our military strength.
Just as in wars past, we will not give up on our moral standard in the name
of combat.

In the last few weeks several incidents have come up which seem to call into
question the moral standard of IDF soldiers.
We must look at the facts on the ground and study them closely.
I insist that we study these and other incidents carefully, especially those
with uninvolved civilians.
We see a picture of a man playing his violin at a checkpoint, and this is a
terrible picture.
But then we investigate the incident and we find that the situation was not
as it seemed.
The soldiers - as they must - asked the man to open the violin case.
But they did not ask him to play.
In fact, they asked him to stop playing.
The picture does not always, in fact, does not often, tell the whole story.
It is always easiest to use a single image, and turn perception into
reality.

We have an incident where a suspicious figure, which turned out to be a 13
year old girl, is approaching an outpost along the Israel-Egypt border near
Rafah.
This outpost is located in the most dangerous area in all of Gaza and the
West Bank, in an area where there was an infiltration at the nearby Morag
outpost in September in which three soldiers were killed.
Is a suspicious figure approaching a threatening situation? Yes.
Were the actions that followed proper? No.
For that reason an IDF officer is standing trial.

Friday's incident involving the operation to arrest the Islamic Jihad terror
near Jenin is another incident which has to be studied carefully.
We are dealing with an elite force, which has done an outstanding job and
has been an important part of combating terror during this conflict.
We also have to remember that we are dealing with an armed Islamic Jihad
terrorist who carried out attacks in the past. This is not an innocent
civilian. This is a terrorist in a combat situation.
At the same time, we found faults with the way the force acted.
The head of Central Command, with my approval, appointed a Brigadier General
from outside the Central Command to investigate the incident.
Here, too, we are not closing the case.
To the contrary, I want a complete and independent investigation to better
understand what happened.

As Chief of Staff, I will not let these incidents go unexamined.
As difficult as the job is, as long and as difficult as it is for the
soldiers, we cannot give in on the moral standard.
We will educate and re-educate; we will teach and re-teach.
In the last two weeks, I met with all the senior field officers in the army
and we discussed the complex ethical issues that have arisen lately.
I instructed them to meet with their officers and soldiers to discuss these
issues and to reinforce our clear moral standard.
If there are ethical questions and dilemmas that arise from our operational
activity, we will struggle with them and discuss them.
That is a source of strength for us, not weakness.

The IDF's moral standard is essential for the society.
We are the army of the people.
The soldier's moral standard is our moral standard.
And while I am Chief of Staff I will do everything to draw a clear moral
standard, despite the very difficult circumstances and situations we face.

We are entering a new period.
We hope a new era is on the horizon.
But, still, it is up to the Palestinians.
If they stop terror, if they stop incitement, we will be able to move to the
Road Map.
We will also help facilitate the elections for the Palestinian Authority,
and do our share to allow freedom of movement on election day.

We are at an important historic / strategic point.
In the coming year we will face great challenges and great opportunity.
The Knesset has approved the disengagement plan.
We are working to ensure that it will be carried out in the best possible
way.

This evening we light the first candle of Hanukka.
I wish to take this opportunity to wish you all Happy Hanukka and a Happy
Holiday Season.
Let us hope the new year will bring new beginnings for the region.

END ON THE RECORD COMMENTS