IDF Chief Halevi says hostage deal ‘embodies basic values of society that values life’
Despite war for public opinion favoring the weak, ‘we had better be strong,’ Halevi says
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi spoke at a graduation ceremony on Wednesday evening at the National Security College, emphasizing that a hostage release deal “embodies the basic values required for an exemplary society and a society that values life.”
Halevi also addressed the challenges Israel faces in the current conflict, especially the challenges of fighting an ideology and fighting a war of public opinion.
He began his speech by affirming the Zionist movement.
“The purpose of Zionism is the sovereign existence of the people of Israel in its land in security, prosperity and growth. This is our home. We have no other and will not look for one,” Halevi stated.
He also said Zionism “is the basis of our relative advantage in the region,” claiming that “it distinguishes us from the countries around us.”
Calling security “a necessary condition without which we have no existence,” Halevi said the IDF failed on Oct. 7.
“In Simchat Torah, we failed to provide security,” he admitted. "We are investigating courageously in order to improve and to restore public trust in the IDF, the basis of our strength.”
Halevi noted that the current conflict has been challenging, in part, because of its length, as the war has been going on for nine months.
Israel’s “changing threats challenge the principle of conducting short wars, which has been a fundamental principle of Israel's security doctrine,” Halevi noted.
“The current war is different,” he claimed. “This is a war against a destructive extremist idea, which began with Iran and its aspiration is to destroy Israel. Defeating terrorist organizations that hold ideas of annihilation, that sanctify death, and shelter under a dense population, requires thorough and sometimes lengthy systems.”
According to Halevi, Israel needs its “regional and global partners” to achieve victory.
“Victory will be achieved thanks to determination and perseverance, as well as through long-term strategy and regional and global partnerships, with those who understand that Iran and its proxies threaten not only us, but also them.”
The IDF chief said that “alongside the military campaign, a war of consciousness and narratives is being waged in world public opinion.”
“The world tends to support those perceived as weak, rather than those who are right,” he noted. “Israel is perceived as strong, and rightly so; It pays a price for it – unjustly – but if the condition for support is to be weak, we had better be strong.”
At the same ceremony, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant echoed Halevi’s words.
"Even in these hours, when IDF soldiers are working to eradicate the Hamas organization, we have the duty to return the hostages to their homes. This is a supreme moral imperative - and this is a declared objective of the war,” Gallant stated.
“The determined action of the defense establishment created the conditions for the return of the hostages.”
He also said the IDF can deal with whatever consequences come from approving a hostage release deal.
“We have a limited window of opportunity to fulfill our moral and ethical duty - to return the hostages,” Gallant noted.
“The conditions that will be created as a result of the deal - will advance our national and security interests, while the IDF and the security forces will know how to overcome the risks that may arise.”
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
