Blue and White leader, former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz on Tuesday outlined his party's security vision in a special interview with international news channel i24NEWS.
"I don't think we should accept any activity against us, whether it's a balloon or a rocket or infantry through the fence itself," said Gantz, speaking of the Gaza Strip. "At the very end of Operation Protective Edge there was an agreement made in Cairo, including the perimeter, that not just being crossed but not being close to it. I mean, you wouldn't even approach the perimeter itself. And now it has disappeared totally."
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"We should accept that we should practice zero-tolerance against any harm to our sovereignty, it doesn't really matter what it is, we have to react to it harshly.
"I hope the people of Hamas who hold the people of Gaza hostage will understand it and will change their activity," he continued. "And once again, it's very simple. It's in their hands, If it stays quiet, if the abducted soldiers and the missing bodies and the people who are in Gaza are brought back, we can start talking about other issues, the development of the entire area. I think the people of Gaza have the right to live normally. But they have to act normally. And what we are seeing so far is not normal."
Outlining his long term plan for the Gaza Strip, Gantz said: "In five, 10-years-time I see rebuilding the infrastructure [in Gaza]. We have zero demands to exclude security. If we get our security, if nothing happens from Gaza, they can live their life, we can let them develop themselves, we will be very happy to develop more positive and reasonable neighboring relations. I wouldn't mind having people coming to work in Israel and going back to Gaza at the end of the working day. I think we should do it. They are human beings, I don't treat them as any different.
"During Operation Protective Edge I was the IDF chief of staff and I was in the Erez crossing and I was overlooking, inspecting hundreds of trucks going in with medical equipment, food and everything you can think of, and I was shelled with mortars at the very same time. That paradox should be over. If it's quiet they can live their life, If it's not quiet we'll take care of it.״
Gantz expressed his wish that one day "hope will be in the area and not just desperation. And if we can help the people of Gaza live better lives, not at the expense of our security, it's even better. Therefore I think that this is a good approach – of course we'll have to take on security measures while allowing it – but I think it gives hope and I think that hope is a better concept."
"We have bodies of terrorists in our hands, we should continue to support Gaza in terms of urgent humanitarian aspects but nothing above it should not be considered as part of it. So if you want to build issues, you want to build your infrastructure, you want to do this, you want to do that, solve the humanitarian aspect of bringing back the bodies of the soldiers and the two missing persons."
Commenting on the Trump administration's Middle East peace plan, Gantz said its was a "good start," adding that "the deal as a whole package makes sense. It's a very realistic one, it sees the reality as it is. Everybody has to shy away from illusions of what might have happened, what dreams, etc.
"The Palestinians are here, we are here, let's see how can we live together. I have remarks over some issues within the plan itself, but as a whole I accept it and I think we should promote it and engage with it and promote it down the road," he said.
"I think harsh measures, immediate measures, will harm the potential of the full plan, therefore I thought, let's finish the election, lots of things have to be detailed from the principles of the plan into the ground, maps, etc. , what can be done here, what can be done there, and only then we can start and move forward with those issues.
"I will do everything in my capacity to speak with different players in the region, definitely the moderate countries around us, like Jordan, like Egypt, like Saudi Arabia who I think should be backing up these issues. But if down the road the Palestinians will continue to refuse to move forward, then we will have to see if we are willing to do it unilaterally or not.
"Jerusalem as we understand [the plan] will be united, and if they will decide, as the plan says, to build their capital, their capital assets, on the eastern part of the perimeter then it's something else."
Turning to Iran, Gantz said that "Iran is first and foremost, is a global challenge. The Iranians are involved in so many aspects, so it's a global challenge. It's a regional challenge. I'm sure that the countries around the Gulf are bothered by the Iranian more than we Israelis are, but it's also an Israeli challenge. We cannot accept them as a nuclear power no matter what happens. On this issue there's really no coalition or opposition, from our perspective. We see the regional aggressiveness and the transfer of arms both to Hezbollah in Lebanon, militia in Syria and also to the Gaza Strip, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad. So yes, it is a challenge, but it's not only an Israeli challenge. It's more of a regional and global challenge as well."
Gantz also referred to plans to strike Iran's nuclear sites drawn up during his term as IDF chief. "A military option is indeed an option. And since it's a very critical issue for us, we have the option, we will keep the option, we will develop the military option, we will constantly nurture it to the degree that we might one day have to use it. I hope we won't have to, but if we will, we will have the option.
"I hope the Iranians will not promote their nuclear capabilities into the zone that will put us into this area of needs, I would say. And the world has to unite itself around it. Whether it's the Americans, or whether it's the European countries that need to press over Iran so you will end up having a better JCPOA.
"To improve the agreement in different aspects, all very well-known of inspections, the horizon time, the armament activities as far as missiles, etc. etc. If Iran just stays Iran and takes whatever it gains from lifting of the sanctions and investing it in their country, that would be something else, but currently, they are still creating aggressiveness around the area, this is unacceptable," he concluded.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS
