Editor Chuck Carlson:  Friday’s  Reuters New reported:  “ Israel defense chief quits, warns of “extremist” rise under Netanyahu.”   Reuters: “His (Mashe Ya’alon) departure removes a strong voice of moderation in the Cabinet and deepens the rift between the security establishment and the hard line politicians.”

Mr Ya’alon (right) said he had a “lack of faith” in the prime minister (left). At a news conference on Friday, Mr Yaalon said: “I fought with all my might against manifestations of extremism, violence and racism in Israeli society, which are threatening its sturdiness and also trickling into the IDF [Israel Defence Forces], hurting it already,” Haaretz newspaper reports.

Your Editor is not so sure how “moderate” Mr Ya’alon is, but this story discloses a revolt against the belligerent warmaking policy of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party.  In resigning, Moshe Ya’alon told reporters, “Israel is a healthy society with a sane majority that is tolerant of minorities and strives for a liberal and democratic society. But to my great dismay extremist and dangerous elements have taken over Israel, also over the Likud party, and are shaking the house and threatening to hurt its inhabitants.”  He went on,  “I fought with all my might against manifestations of extremism, violence and racism in Israeli society that threatens its sturdiness and is seeping into the army and already damaging it.” 
Strong words.  Ex-Defense Minister Ya’alon is clearly saying Israel’s citizens are more “sane” and less “racist” than its current political leaders. Insanely racist seem an appropriate description for those who occupy 3.5 million virtual prisoners in tiny Israel. To do so is an impossible policing job that needs to be ended. It is surpassed in history only by the multi-million prisons of the soviet Gulags.  “Extremist” In the USA can mean anyone who read a banned book, or who writes a letter, like this one, that seems to criticize an ethnic group. But that word means much more in Israel, where the gulags of Palestine are euphemistically called “refugee camps,” and government subsidized and armed squatters are call “settlers.”  Extreme racism, as Mr. Ya’alon is accusing Netanyahu and the leadership of the Likud party, is a dynamite charge, coming from a man with Ya’alon’s background and military experience.

The Reuters news story quotes Ya’alon as saying he always put Israel’s security and other interests above his own but, “unfortunately I found myself lately in tough disputes over moral and professional issues with the prime minister and several ministers and members of parliament.” 

Reuters’ writer explains, “Tensions between Ya’alon and Netanyahu escalated in March, when military leaders criticized a soldier who was caught on video fatally shooting an already-wounded Palestinian attacker. The solider is now on trial for manslaughter. While Ya’alon has backed the military, hard-liners have backed the soldier.” 

We have observed and posted several solid reports where IDF solders have carried out apparent extra-judicial executions of Palestinians, usually alleged to be knife attackers, who obviously could have been captured. This seem to be the rule, not the exception. One was an unarmed girl, riddled with bullets at a checkpoint while partly photographed by a bystander. (link)  We rarely, if ever, see a case where a Palestinian knife attacker is captured, they are invariably killed on the spot.  It seems clear to this writer that IDF solders have recently had a green light to execute Philistines without fear of retribution from leaders. But now we have the political leader over the entire IDF, resigning and leaving politics over the issue of “extremism and racism” at the top of the government. Ya’alon is claiming he wants to maintain law and order over the military, and the “hard liners politicians” including the PM, want to allow the solders to be judge, jury and executioner over the Philistines, including  those who are Israeli citizens. This is the ultimate in racism!

I remind readers that Moshe Ya’alon is hardly a pacifist.  As Minster of Defense in Netanyahu’s political machine, he presided over Operations Protective Edge, destroying much of Gaza in 2014. He also was Chief of Staff of the IDF in 2002 when it brutally put down Intifada II, bombing Gaza while I watched from a rooftop.  We ask, is this a name-calling match between feuding Likud leaders at the top, as some observers suggest, or, are we being shown a rare case where a professional militarist chokes on what is being done in his name?  Is it possible that the political revolt that has made national contenders out of Bernie Sander and Donald Trump is also alive in Israel?  I say yes.- CEC

See, also, “Outgoing Defense Minister Ya’alon: Extremists Have Taken Over Israel,” Haaretz, 5/20/2016: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.720653