Former IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz on Monday evening, at a conference held at Sapir College in Sderot, related to Operation Protective Edge, which was fought under his command in the summer of 2014, only a few miles westward, in Gaza. Gantz objected to the criticism voiced by elements in the Israeli society about the conduct of the government and security forces during the operation. “To the Israeli society I can say with some degree of criticism — the whining was much worse than the reality,” he said.
“Operation Protective Edge was carried out at the right place and time,” he added, “not that there was no room for improvement, but it had the correct leadership by the prime minister, the defense minister and the military and security forces.”
The Sderot college conference was held in cooperation with the Institute for National Security (INSS), headlined, “From Operation Protective Edge to the Third Intifada.” Gantz addressed the recent rocket fire coming out of the Gaza Strip, saying that “Hamas is making efforts to grow stronger and recover its abilities, but you cannot say it wasn’t deterred.” He also said that “we must strengthen the periphery and the operational regions in a more routine fashion—this applies to the Golan Heights and to the Gaza perimeter communities, especially today, when the Islamic Jihad is spreading in the region.”
Later, Gantz referred to the deterioration in the security situation in recent weeks, saying that “the whole issue of terrorist incidents now is like hatred mushrooms popping after the rain, feeding on a negative atmosphere and a fermentation we need to stop. We need to stand firmly as a society and respond with maximum force against dangerous and serious incidents, and with a minimum force against events that are not dangerous. We need to make sure that our children are growing up with values even during the toughest moments.”
Alongside need to maintain Israel’s military power, Gantz emphasized that it must seek a political settlement. “I do not think anyone really knows what’s going to happen here,” he said. “What’s required is a political-strategic direction. We can’t ignore the Islamic Jihad’s appearance all along our border and its impact on the moderate states, which it isn’t certain will be there in the future. This is not Switzerland or Luxembourg, we’re the strongest here, which is well and good, and in order to win we will have to make sure that we hold the sword—but I am convinced of the need to seek a political settlement. I do not know whether you can reach a peace agreement at the end, but the effort to find a settlement is important,” he said.
Gantz’s war, the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, claimed the lives of 66 Israeli soldiers and 5 Israeli civilians (including one child). Shortly after the ceasefire with Hamas, in early August, Maj. Gen. Gantz invited the residents of Israeli towns along the Gaza Strip to come back from the more distant settlements where they had sought shelter from the rockets. They trusted him and came back — only to be fired on once again. The residents of the Eshkol Regional Council have been extremely critical of the former Chief of Staff, accusing him of not completing a job he had started too late. The precarious quiet around the strip, with several “test” rockets being fired every week at Israeli civilian areas is seen by many locals as proof that Gantz’s legacy may not have been as robust as he himself appears to believe.