Yoav Galant: Vindicated At Last « News « Articles « OneIsrael.org . . . israelstreet.org

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Head of “HaBayit HaYehudi” (The Jewish Home) political party

UPDATE 6 pm Israel time Thursday:

*You may remember that PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned PLO Chief Mahmoud Abbas not to pursue his bid for “non member observer state” status at the U.N. last month. At the time, Netanyahu threatened that such a bid would change the status quo, and that Israel would react “accordingly”.

For once, it appears that Netanyahu’s threat was not merely bluster. Numerous construction projects in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria are now going forward in Givat Hamatos, Ramat Shlomo, Gush Etzion, Givat Ze’ev, Beitar Illit, Karnei Shomron, Geva Benyamin, and Emanuel. At the same time, a road connecting Gush Etzion with Jerusalem via Beit Safafa (planned 22 years ago) has gone into accelerated construction.

Abbas and the PLO may have won the battle at the United Nations, but it seems to have been a Pyrrhic victory at best.

*Meanwhile, rare acknowledgement of the extraordinary steps that Israel has taken to ease the life of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria came from an unlikely source yesterday. B’Tselem, a so-called “human rights” NGO that normally never misses an opportunity to bogusly criticize the “brutal Israeli occupation”, posted this on their website in a year-end update:

“In 2012, the Israeli military removed several of the many restrictions that had been imposed on Palestinians’ movement in various areas of the West Bank since the beginning of the second Intifada. In recent years, Israel has scaled back these restrictions, and Palestinians can now travel relatively freely within the West Bank.”

When was the last time that you heard the European Union, or the United States, or the PLO, or anybody praising Israel for removing checkpoints and barriers (despite the risk to Israeli citizens)? The last time you heard it was “never”–the world never recognizes the many humanitarian actions that Israel takes every day.

TODAY’S BLOG:

One of the sorriest, most infuriating episodes in your humble servant’s recent memory came to a conclusion in Israel yesterday.

Galant, commander of troops in the South during Operation Cast Lead.

Yoav Galant, perhaps the most brilliant military commander of his generation, was completely absolved of all impropriety in the fraudulent case brought against him that ended his military career.

The events surrounding Galant began in the summer of 2010 following the announcement that Gabi Ashkenazi would be stepping down as Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

In the months that followed, it became apparent that the competition to succeed Ashkenazi had narrowed down to Yoav Galant and Benny Gantz–mirror opposites of each other. Whereas Galant was recognized to be a brilliantly aggressive commander in the field, Gantz was widely regarded as a passive “behind the desk” planner.

Galant in the field--always leading from the front.

At first, Galant’s chances were seeming set a deadly setback as Channel 2 news in Israel broadcast a report purporting to show a document that Galant had written smearing Gantz. The ensuing uproar, however, led to a deeper investigation that revealed that the document was a forgery.

On August 22, 2010, completely cleared of “unethical conduct”, Galant was nominated to be the next head of the IDF. Two weeks later, his appointment was approved by the Netanyahu government. Citing Galant’s 33 years of dedicated and excellent military service, Netanyahu declared that Galant had “proven himself to be a courageous fighter, an excellent officer, and a responsible and serious battle commander.”

What followed brought shame to the Israeli judiciary, the Israeli media, and to the Netanyahu government.

A petition was filed at the Israel Supreme Court by the Israeli Green Party to void Galant’s appointment. The basis of the petition was that Galant had acted improperly in regard to land affairs on the Amikam Moshav where his home is located.

Specifically, the petition accused Galant of creating a driveway through “a public open space” to reach his home, creating a one car “parking lot” for his automobile in the same “public open space”, and planting a 28 dunam (2.8 hectares/6.9 acres) private garden on agricultural land that did not belong to him.

The left-wing Israeli media, which had never been a friend of Galant because of his aggressive military tactics, immediately pounced on the story and mercilessly pilloried Galant in story after story on Israeli television throughout the Fall of 2010. In every case, Galant vigorously defended himself asserting that the Israel Land Registry had simply made a mistake in listing his property.

Galant’s protestations were ultimately futile.

Israel’s leftist Attorney General, Yehuda Weinstein, finally took the side of the Green Party arguing that local authorities had ordered Galant to return the land for the driveway and the parking place and that the ownership of the garden was still in question. Weinstein declared that he could no longer defend Galant’s appointment.

Soon afterward, the craven Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak followed suit. Galant’s appointment was canceled, and Benny Gantz became IDF Chief of Staff. Galant subsequently resigned–an inglorious end to a brave military career.

Yesterday, more than 2 years after the “land scandal” erupted, the local planning commission of Menashe-Alona finally decided that Galant was correct after all: the Land Registry had made a mistake. All of the land for the driveway, parking place, and the garden actually does belong to Yoav Galant.

What was Galant’s reaction? He said simply this:

“I welcome the decision of the planning authorities who corrected the mistake made in the past, which made me and my family suffer unnecessary aggravation. The issue is over. Better late than never.”

Permit your humble servant to be outraged. A brilliant soldier had his career ruined on basis of false NGO and media accusations and the inability of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak to summon one ounce of courage in the face of those accusations.

Who paid the price of Netanyahu and Barak’s pusillanimity? Yoav Galant and the people of Israel.

Addendum:

Channel 2 and Channel 10 both reported the Planning Commission decision last night. Each channel devoted 20 seconds to the story.

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