- JERUSALEM -- For more than
half a century it has been a symbol of invincibility and the bedrock of
the Jewish state. But now Israel's much-vaunted army has been riven by
a row with the political establishment over how to deal with the Palestinians.
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- So deep run the divisions, seasoned observers believe,
that they provide a worrying harbinger for the disintegration of the army,
an institution long regarded as the guardian of Israel's existence, and
even of Israeli society itself.
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- Tensions between the army and the right-wing coalition
of Ariel Sharon, Israel's Prime Minister, burst into the open after the
army chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Moshe Ya'alon, gave what was intended
to be an off-the-record briefing to three senior Israeli journalists last
week. The resulting reports in Israel's three main daily newspapers amounted
to a devastating critique of policy in the occupied territories of Gaza
and the West Bank.
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- Attributed to "senior military sources", the
articles cited deep unhappiness among the military's top brass over the
Israeli cabinet's refusal to lift restrictions that would ease the lives
of ordinary Palestinians. The present policy, characterised by closures
and curfews and exacerbated by seizures of Palestinian land to build a
so-called "security fence" through the West Bank, risked provoking
an unprecedented explosion in the territories, the warnings said. In a
particularly damning comment, the political leadership was accused of taking
"tactical decisions" that run "contrary to our strategic
interest".
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- The criticism even extended to partly blaming the government
for the downfall of the reform- minded Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
Abbas two months ago because of a "stingy" refusal to make more
concessions. It also condemned September's decision to "remove"
Yasser Arafat from his leadership position in the Palestinian Authority
ñ which only served to restore Arafat's standing among his own people,
in the militaryís view.
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- As well as targeting Sharon, the remarks added up to
a withering assault on defence minister Shaul Mofaz, who has staunchly
opposed lifting restrictions on the territories on the grounds that they
would increase the risk of suicide attacks.
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- As it became clear that the author of the criticisms
was the chief of staff himself, Sharon and Mofaz moved into overdrive.
Sharon's office reported that he was "furious" and wanted Ya'alon
fired, while Mofaz summoned his military underling to explain himself.
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- Yet, with the row assuming cacophonic proportions even
by Israeli standards, it has become clear that Ya'alon's observations have
exposed a degree of alienation on the part of the army that neither the
deployment of political spin nor the pulling of rank can conceal.
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- They go to the core of a growing belief in Israel that
the hardline policy against the Palestinians has failed and that, with
the government's failure to stop "terrorism" and tackle a persistent
economic crisis, the nation is dangerously adrift.
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- That Ya'alon's comments characterise a deeper malaise
are highlighted by his own credentials as a renowned hawk who once advocated
a military crackdown to teach the Palestinians a psychological lesson that
Israel is "invincible".
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- According to Professor Martin Van Creveld, a military
historian at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, Ya'alon's criticisms are an
admission that such an approach is bankrupt and has serious consequences.
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- "I think people are beginning to realise that the
ship is sinking, so they are deserting it and blaming each other,"
he said. "Israel has been fighting people much weaker than itself
for the past 20 years. This particular argument involving Ya'alon will
pass over but it's very symptomatic of what I would say is a disintegration
of the Israeli army. We have God knows how many soldiers refusing to turn
up for reserve duty and others preferring to go to jail. It compares to
the disintegration the Americans experienced in Vietnam. This army is running
out of people willing to fight and die. We are faced with the question
of whether we allow ourselves to be torn to pieces fighting this intifada
or do we build a wall and get out."
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- That gloomy diagnosis is an illustration of the distance
Israeli society has travelled since the concept of the "people's army"
was pioneered by the country's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion,
after the declaration of independence in 1948. Officially, all Israeli
males are eligible for three years' military service at age 18, with women
required to serve 21 months. Exemptions are given to certain categories,
such as ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli Arabs.
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- But in a tacit admission that universal conscription
is losing public support, the army is considering replacing the current
set-up with a selective draft system.
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- Disenchantment with the military's place in Israeli society
has also expressed itself in the growing number of "refuseniks".
Last month, nine reserve pilots signed a letter addressed to the head of
the Israeli airforce declaring their unwillingness to participate in missions
in the occupied territories. The letter followed a spate of targeted attempts
on the lives of Palestinian militants from army aircraft.
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- Rows between the Israeli military and the political establishment
are nothing new. A failure to heed the army's warnings of danger signs
leading up to the 1973 Yom Kippur war eventually led to Prime Minister
Golda Meir and defence minister Moshe Dayan losing their jobs.
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- Historically, however, the relationship between army
and government has been close, with many former generals climbing up the
political ladder after distinguished army service. Sharon graduated into
politics after a career as an army general, while Mofaz rose to his current
post after having been army chief of staff.
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- That cosy relationship, it seems, has come to an abrupt
halt under the increasing strain of Israel's occupation of the territories,
with the result that the army and the Israeli body politic could be on
a long-term collision course.
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- "The novelty of this row is that it has been initiated
by the chief of staff, whereas past arguments have been caused by the chief
of staff responding to the politicians," said Professor Stewart Cohen,
a military expert at Bar-Ilan University.
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- "This shows the army is somewhat alienated. This
could be a slippery slope. Alienation isn't a good thing and Israel ought
to be very worried about where it could lead to."
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- ©2003 Newsquest (Sunday Herald) Limited. all rights
reserved.
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- http://www.sundayherald.com/37774
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