Don't gamble with security
As a serial opponent of cuts in the defense budget, I was surprised to hear that the committee headed by Professor Manuel Trajtenberg is recommending cuts in defense to free up funds for a host of worthy causes it wants to support in the areas of education, housing, and health.
Did the professor forget that he himself was a member of a committee headed by David Brodet which produced a 10-year plan for the defense budget? What about that approved plan, which was considered minimalist-
To prevent misunderstandings, let me say that I do support more stringent conditions and a longer period of service for career soldiers in non-combat positions. I say yes to greater efficiency. That is what the McKinsey company is doing. (This U.S.-based consulting firm was hired by Israel to audit its defense spending.) Should the Israel Defense Forces be pressured to honor its Brodet Committee commitments? Yes. Would I support any further cuts in the defense budget beyond the Brodet Committee's recommendations? No.
Two things should not be violated: First, the defense system should not allow Finance Ministry clerks to manage the defense budget. As someone in the know, I can say that Finance Ministry clerks sometimes decide things without having any idea of their significance. In their arrogance, they refuse to learn. If the Finance Ministry head wants to decide the defense budget, he should be given an emergency appointment as commander of the northern or southern front in a time of war.
The second thing that should not be violated is that the IDF should not have to reduce its manpower and spread its acquisition of military hardware over stages. If this was dependent on the Finance Ministry, there would still be no Iron Dome anti-rocket system protecting Negev settlements. This particular victory should be credited to Amir Peretz, who insisted on it.
The Arab Spring is a tsunami. If a post-Zionist government was voted into office in Israel, we could live with that. But for a government that throughout its term bases itself on its pride, and only on the way it views itself, what would be the purpose of its post-Zionism? The threats against us continue to grow, and despite the worsening situation in Ankara, Tehran, Cairo, Amman and Ramallah, Israel continues to signal that it prefers the good life over the protection of the Jewish state.
Finance and Defense Ministry clerks communicate with each other, and about each other, like Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv fans before the derby. But I would expect all chiefs of general staff, whose opinions I have heard during their terms -- Ehud Barak, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Shaul Mofaz, Moshe Ya'alon, Dan Halutz, Gabi Ashkenazi, and now Benny Gantz -- to stick to the principle that when it comes to national security, there can be no gambling.
Where will we find the billions of dollars required to implement the demands of the social protest? Simply put, the bed covers are too short for the bed here. Well meet again tomorrow.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו