By Ryan Jones
Sep 13, 2005
After decades of teaching the world the principle of no surrender to terrorism, Israel dropped its guard and quit Gaza amid an unrelenting ?Palestinian? campaign to maim, kill and destroy its people.
In a speech delivered in Herzliya Monday, former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon suggested Israel's entire security stance had been altered by the internationally-backed ?disengagement? from Gaza and northern Samaria.
?Israel's security outlook until the disengagement was not to surrender to terrorism,? Ya'alon said.
Prior to his premature dismissal earlier this year, Ya'alon warned that the withdrawal would whet the appetites of anti-Israel terrorists, and that a fresh, unprecedented wave of violence would be unleashed upon the nation if Israel did not continue surrendering more territory.
Prime ministerial candidate Binyamin Netanyahu said Ya'alon was denied a traditional fifth year as head of the IDF because of his outspoken criticism, from a security standpoint, of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies.
For his part, Sharon refuses to acknowledge that he made any concession to Israel's Islamic foes by uprooting the Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria in compliance with ?Palestinian? demands.
?I don't think I made any concessions,? Sharon told The Washington Post.