Former Israeli War Minister: Netanyahu is Leading Us to Destruction

Gaza, MINA – Former Israeli Army Minister Moshe Yaalon said that “the army is committing war crimes” in the Gaza Strip and “is trying to hide it,” stressing that he bears responsibility for his previous statements about his country’s army committing “ethnic cleansing crimes” in the northern Gaza Strip.

This came in an interview with Israel Public Radio, today, Sunday, with Ya’alon, a day after his statement asserting that “the army” is carrying out ethnic cleansing in the northern Gaza Strip, Quds Press reported.

Yaalon said: “I am responsible for what I said about ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza.”

On Saturday, in an unprecedented statement from a former official of Ya’alon’s stature, in an interview with the local Israeli channel democratv, excerpts of which were republished by the official broadcasting authority, he said that “Israel” is carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in the northern Gaza Strip, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading the entity.

Ya’alon added in an interview today: “I speak on behalf of the commanders who serve in northern Gaza. There are war crimes being committed there.”

He went on to say: “Israeli soldiers are putting their lives in danger and will face legal action at the International Criminal Court.”

He continued: “I have to be aware of what is happening there (in northern Gaza) and they are trying to hide it from us, because they are committing war crimes there.”

Regarding Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip, Yaalon said: “Smotrich is proud of the opportunity to halve the population of Gaza.”

He went on to ask: “What do you call it? He has no moral problem killing two million Gazans. We are a democratic country.”

Last November, Smotrich called for the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the reduction of the Palestinian population there by encouraging what he called voluntary migration.

Regarding the policies of the right-wing Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Ya’alon said: “We are now dragged into occupation, annexation, ethnic cleansing – look at the northern Gaza Strip – displacement, and settlement of Jews.”

Ya’alon, who served as Army Minister between 2013 and 2016, in the same interview accused Benjamin Netanyahu of leading “Israel to destruction.” (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)