In a remarkably frank interview with Ariel Kahane, Eran Lerman, a veteran of Israeli military intelligence who served on the country’s National Security Council from 2009 to 2015, discusses his experiences and sheds light on some of the Netanyahu government’s most significant decisions. Responding to the accusation that the prime minister is a “passive” leader who reacts without taking initiative, and is thus leading Israel “into a dead end,” Lerman comments:
It’s not true that Netanyahu is leading [Israel] into a dead end. Our situation is good. We are under threat, and we need to be careful, to maneuver, to act wisely, and to invest far greater efforts and resources into foreign policy than the Ministry of Finance currently allows. We’re not immune to harm, but hard work brings results. . . .
As for the claim about passivity, as far as I’m concerned, that’s a compliment. Grandiose attempts like the first Lebanon war and the Oslo Accords, which sought to redesign the Middle East and everything around it, [have failed]. Give me nine years of Yitzḥak Shamir [against whom similar accusations were made] in exchange for those two adventures. I think Shamir was given a country in a very problematic situation, and handed it over to Rabin in excellent condition. We don’t know how history will judge the current prime minister, but if it weighs factors such as the economic situation, the depth of relations with important countries around the world, and so on, then the data are good. . . .
Today Hamas is much worse off than it was in the past. It’s true that they are preparing for the next war, and there’s no reason the think they won’t start one, but the fact that Hamas says, “We need to kill the Zionists, but not this week”—that’s the best deterrence we can achieve.
Read more on BESA Center: http://besacenter.org/uncategorized/the-diplomatic-view-from-inside-netanyahus-national-security-council/