Dichter vows to prepare homefront for Iran's 'existential threat'

"On the other side, on our enemy's side, they are working on improving attack capabilities against Israel in a manner that puts Israel under a strategic threat from Lebanon, from the Gaza Strip, and from Syria; and we face an existential threat from Iran — for the first time since the state's founding," newly appointed Homefront Defense Minister Avi Dichter said on Sunday, his first full day in his new capacity, moments after assuming his new role.

In a special ceremony at the Ministry of Defense complex in Tel Aviv (known as the Kirya), Dichter's predecessor Matan Vilnai handed over the ministry — which is in fact an internal unit inside the Defense Ministry — to the former Kadima MK. Vilnai was recently appointed as Israel's ambassador to China.

"I have great reverence for the role of homefront defense minister; as someone who has dedicated practically all of his adult life to the homefront — literally as a combat soldier, as a commander and as a director — for me this is the second time in six years that I have become the head of a ministry whose main mission is to protect the homefront," Dichter said at the ceremony.

Dichter recalled how as public security minister during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 he "instructed the Israel Police to take charge over the homefront, because the Israel Defense Forces Homefront Command at the time was incapable of meeting its responsibilities."

"Since then, the IDF, the police and other security agencies, the fire department and Magen David Adom in Israel (Israel's largest first aid responder organization) have engaged in a lesson-learning process; they have undergone a dramatic makeover when it comes to their preparedness for homefront emergencies. This improvement is by no means the finish line."

Dichter also highlighted the important role Israel's security play in making Israel a safe haven for the Jews worldwide. "The State of Israel has proved that the era in which Israelis are killed because they are Jews is over. This has been driven home for us, our enemies and the world to see. The IDF's active defense capabilities and its capacity to wage a full-fledged attack are designed to ensure that the Israeli homefront does not become another military front. We will look into the cracks that allow our enemies to strike Israeli soil, despite our efforts, to see how we can minimize our vulnerability."

Dichter went on to recall the behind-the-scenes process that culminated in his resignation from the Knesset and his appointment as an independent Cabinet minister. "When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak approached me and asked me to join the government, the proposition neatly dovetailed with the worldview I have subscribed to over the past year."

"We are now in a special moment in history, both in terms of the challenges we face and the opportunities we can seize; an Arab Spring of revolutions and the overthrow of regimes has destabilized the area and makes it incumbent upon the leaders in Israel to pick and choose its policies: a 'trust but verify' approach toward some, a 'verify but trust' policy against others and a 'verify and verify' approach too."

In a late night meeting between Dichter and Netanyahu last Monday, the former Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief and public security minister agreed to tender his resignation from the Knesset on Tuesday and quit Kadima — the party to which he has belonged since entering politics in 2005. As Dichter will not have any voting rights in the Knesset, he is unlikely to alter the coalition's standing, but his vote may be crucial in the event that Netanyahu asks the government to approve a military strike on Iran.

Dichter's past statements suggest he would not object to an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear installations and has recently said Israel should shore up its military capabilities for such a scenario, Army Radio reported last week.

Political analysts believe Dichter will eventually join the Likud party. But if he wants to win a Likud Knesset seat he will have get a spot high up on the party's Knesset candidate list when primaries are held. Netanyahu has already said that the party would not secure guaranteed seats for anyone on the list.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו