Moshe Ya’alon, a former military chief and defense minister in a prior government led by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, on Monday clarified remarks in which he accused the IDF of “ethnic cleansing.”
“I did not direct my words at the IDF, but at politicians who proudly speak of ethnic cleansing of Gaza (at this point, only the northern part of the Strip) and settling it with Jews. This is defined by law as a ‘war crime,’” Ya’alon said in a Hebrew statement.
Ya’alon claimed he hurled his accusations against the government after requests from “commanders who are acting in accordance with morality and law and told me that it was explained to them they were evacuating all Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip for operational reasons.
“I hope my public statement will stop the government from committing a war crime while placing the responsibility on IDF commanders,” he added, concluding, “May we know how to win and remain human!”
In an interview with the DemocratTV outlet on Saturday, Ya’alon said that the Netanyahu government was working “to conquer, to annex, ethnic cleansing … and to establish Jewish settlement” in the Strip.
Pressed by the interviewer, Ya’alon responded, “There is no Beit Lahiya, there is no Beit Hanun, they are currently operating in Jabalia and are essentially cleansing the area [the northern Gaza Strip] of ​​Arabs.”
The remarks drew sharp criticism from both sides of the political aisle in the Jewish state, as well as from within the military.
In response, Ya’alon doubled down on his accusations, telling Israel’s Channel 12 News broadcaster on Sunday night that “today, the IDF is not the most moral army. It’s difficult for me to say that.”
The army said on Monday that it “rejects grave allegations of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip, which harm the IDF and its soldiers.”
“The IDF acts in accordance with international humanitarian law and temporarily evacuates a population in accordance with the operational need and for its protection,” the military’s statement added.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who heads the Yesh Atid Party, denounced the former defense minister’s claims at a press conference on Monday, telling reporters that “Ya’alon should not have said that.”
Senior Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of Jerusalem’s powerful Security Cabinet, have suggested that the military permanently rule Gaza while encouraging voluntary migration to allow Palestinians to leave the war-torn territory.
On Thursday, Construction and Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf—leader of the United Torah Judaism Party—voiced support for resettling the Israeli communities that were destroyed as part of the 2005 disengagement from Gaza.
On May 21, Netanyahu ruled out the possibility of Israeli civilians returning to the enclave. “If you mean resettling Gaza, … it was never in the cards, and I said so openly. And some of my constituents are not happy about it, but that’s my position,” he said. JNS
{Matzav.com Israel}