Weekly Observations: 7 About Gantz Campaign
Dr. Aaron Lerner 30 January, 2019

Some observations regarding former COS Gantz's speech last night and his
candidacy in general:

1. Retreat of civilians: Gantz indicated that in the absence of a deal with
the Palestinians that the Israeli civilian presence in Judea and Samaria be
limited to the vaguely defined "settlement blocs". There would possibly be
troops deployed in the Jordan Valley (he termed it Israel's "security
border") but the communities in the Jordan Valley have never been included
in anyone's delineation of the "settlement blocs".

2. No contours to deal with Palestinians: Gantz's requirements were all in
the context of what Israeli would do unilaterally if there isn't a "deal".
Its not clear what "red lines"Gantz has for a deal..

3. No concern over Gaza arms build up: Gantz opposes the Qatari cash
transfers that were already discontinued before he spoke but said nothing
about the ongoing weapons build up in the Gaza Strip.

4. Muzzle criticism of senior officials and institutions? : "there shall
not be wild attacks against the [IDF} Chief of Staff, the head of the
police, and the attorney general...incitement against the institutions of
the courts, culture and media."

5. Signal economic actors that participation in the housing sector may
expose them to risk of prosecution: "I shall impose severe sanctions against
those who profiteer in the prices of land and housing".

6. Risk Israeli lives when not legally required: Gantz has boasted that he
risked the lives of Golani troops when he took precautions for the benefit
of Palestinians which in his own judgment were not required by the law. He
did not touch on this crucial issue in his remarks.

7. Military vs. civilian leadership in general: a short list of some of the
instances that the brass was wrong and civilians right:
- Developing and deploying Israeli spy satellites (the brass didn’t
understand why we couldn't rely on America to share information).
- Deploying submarines which can carry Jericho rockets (the brass didn't
understand why Israel needs second strike capability).
- Destroying Hezbollah's mid-range rockets in opening attack (the brass
wanted to first attack Lebanese infrastructure)
- Assessment of the importance of the Hamas tunnels (the brass - including
Gantz - wanted to essentially ignore their existence)
- Developing a large scale surface-to-surface guided missile capability (the
brass likes planes).
agencies--you forgot a few biggies:
- Begin on the need to destroy (and the ability to destroy) the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981
- Yuval Steinitz on the need to destroy the Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 (the IDF missed it in analysis)

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