Now for the bad news: Gilead assessed that chances for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement are slim. “Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas], despite his lack of love for us, does not think that terrorism is good for the Palestinians. But he will not rule forever, and the common ground of his potential heirs is their choice of violence as the path forward.”
Regarding the chances of regional peace, Gilead said, “I don’t think the Arab states will make peace with us outwardly, publicly, without the Palestinians, because they care about public opinion in their countries, which have the ability to overthrow them.”
Iran, said Gilead, is the only threat to Israel that has the potential to be an existential one. “The Iranian view of the so-called Iran deal is that in eight years’ time, they will have the right to build a nuclear weapon with the blessing of the US,” he said.
“The reason this would be so terrible is that the regime is ideologically committed to Israel’s destruction. Moreover, the Arabs hate the Iranians so much that there is no way they will let them have nuclear weapons if they don’t. So the whole neighborhood will become nuclear. Our security situation is currently satisfactory, but if Iran and our neighbors gain nuclear capabilities, things will worsen.”
Regarding the situation to Israel’s north, Gilead said, “While ISIS is almost completely defeated, Iran, Assad, and Hezbollah are replacing it. They are building a base on the Golan Heights. We are able to deter them and that is why it is quiet there. However, we cannot deter them from building up strength. Our army has to be very strong, and we need alliances.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment