Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told Judea and Samaria council heads this week that his appointment as defense minister was to their benefit, saying since the departure of former Defense Minister Ehud Barak, "the attitude has changed." According to Ya'alon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to announce in one month's time whether there is a chance to restart the peace talks, though as of now there are large gaps that need to be closed and the Palestinians still have a list of preconditions. Ya'alon told the council heads that the law must be abided. "If you have issues, come to me. I will not allow a campaign against IDF officers or causing them harm." The defense minister said he would take care of the settlements personally, despite his deputy Danny Danon's request to handle the subject. While Ya'alon knows the responsibility could be politically perilous, he prefers to handle the settlements issue in case of violent incidents or clashes with security forces. The Defense Ministry on Thursday night said it would not comment on the report.
Under Barak's tenure, the settlement leadership faced a defense minister not entirely sympathetic to their cause. Ya'alon, in contrast, is ideologically much closer to the settlers and owes much of his political support to their backing.
Both Ya'alon and the council heads preferred not to reveal the content of their meeting, though Israel Hayom was informed of the meeting's existence. During the sit-down, Ya'alon told the settler movement leaders, "Where we can build, we will," but also stressed that Israel does not want to sabotage the current U.S. efforts to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations with the Palestinians.
