(Ha'aretz) Ze'ev Schiff - The outgoing chief of staff, Moshe Ya'alon, will go down in history as one of the best chiefs of staff the Israel Defense Forces has ever had. Ya'alon shouldered the heaviest prolonged burden of any of Israel's wars since the 1948 War of Independence. In this war, Israel's civilian population suffered more losses than in any previous war. The terrorist organizations are now in retreat and on the defensive. On the Palestinian side, there is now a leader who believes that terror does not serve his public. Even in Hamas, for the first time there is talk about the possibility of a political solution. Ya'alon insisted on establishing the teleprocessing division that enabled the IDF to achieve a significant shortening of the circuit between obtaining intelligence and preventing an act of terror. It is no wonder that foreign representatives, including Americans, come to Israel to hear about innovations in the war against terror.
2005-05-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive