BICOM

Israel’s former Defence Minister told a conference yesterday that Israel has successfully deterred Hamas and Islamic Jihad from launching attacks.

Moshe Ya’alon spoke at a security conference in Herzliya and said that Israel’s actions during Operation Protective Edge in Summer 2014 had brought “complete quiet” to the Gaza region. He put periodic rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel since then down to independent Salafist Islamist groups, who are largely demonstrating their opposition to Hamas.

Ya’alon, who was Defence Minister during Operation Protective Edge, indicated that Israel could have ended the conflict earlier, saying “we could have ended the [2014 Gaza] war in eight days”.

Hamas is thought to be replenishing its rocket arsenal. It is also openly reconstructing the subterranean network of tunnels which was largely destroyed by Israeli forces during the 2014 operation.  Hamas deployed the tunnels to attack Israeli targets during the conflict and fresh tunnels have since been discovered that reached beyond Israel’s border.

Underscoring Israel’s relatively strong military position, Ya’alon added that there is quiet on the Jordanian, Lebanese and Egyptian borders, with only a limited threat from ISIS-affiliated terror groups in the Sinai Peninsula.

He also addressed Israel’s relations with the United States, which have come under the spotlight in recent weeks following Washington’s decision not to veto a United Nations’ Security Council resolution critical of Israeli settlements and a subsequent speech by outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry, which took aim at Israel’s government and its policies.

Ya’alon said: “We do not have the same interests as everyone. Everyone views ISIS as an enemy. For us, Iran is still the central enemy and suddenly it changed to part of the solution for the US.” Israeli leaders clashed with the Obama administration over the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Ya’alon warned that Iran is attempting to “acquire hegemonic power in the region”.