BICOM

Benny Gantz told the AIPAC conference in Washington yesterday that Israel, under his leadership, will strive for peace with any “honest and willing Arab leader”.

Gantz stressed that Jerusalem will always be “Israel’s united and eternal capital,” and that Israel would never withdraw from the Golan Heights.

Addressing Iran, Gantz said: “I say from this stage to the Iranian regime: we will not allow you to establish yourselves in Syria. We will not allow you to develop a nuclear weapon. You know me well – and not because of my cellphone. On my watch, Iran will not become a regional power. And I will not hesitate to use force when needed.”

Gantz also sent a message to Hezbollah and Hamas when he said: “We’ve met before on the battlefield. You know the result.”

On his vision for the future of West Bank and Golan Heights, Gantz said: “The responsibility for security over the entire Land of Israel will remain in the hands of the IDF, and the IDF alone. Not like other countries, we will never ask anyone to fight for us. We will never withdraw from the Golan Heights. Never.”

Gantz received loud applause from the audience when he spoke about his mother – a Holocaust survivor – and his son, Nadav, who joined the Paratroopers, like Gantz, when he served as a soldier: “Between those two photographs [of his mother and his son] is the story of Israel. Three generations and three symbols: Terrible Bergen-Belsen; the Western Wall; and the hope of a young, strong and independent Israel.”

Although Gantz did not mention the Prime Minister by name, he said under his leadership that: “There will be no corruption leading our way – no corruption whatsoever. The leaders of Israel cannot be led by anything else other than the best interest of Israel and its people. There will be no radicals, from either side of the political map, ruling. There will be no ‘Kahanists’ running our country. There will be no racists leading our state institutions.”

US Vice President Mike Pence and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley also spoke at AIPAC. Haley called on President Trump to toughen enforcement of the Iran sanctions and said: “I think we need to stop with the waivers,” referring to extended sanctions waivers for certain countries.

The Handelsblatt newspaper reported yesterday that German prosecutors have opened a investigation into the sale of submarines to Israel at the request of Israeli officials. Investigators will examine possible bribery offences connected to the deal being investigated in Israel as part of “Case 3000”. New suspicions have recently emerged that Netanyahu may have illicitly profited from selling shares in a company with ties to Thysennkrupp to his cousin, US businessman Nathan Milikowsky.