Mofaz on ISIS, the US and cyberwar
A hero of Operation Entebbe 40 years ago, Israel's Shaul Mofaz spoke to The AJN shortly after arriving in Australia for a series of meetings with senior federal and state politicians this week and to deliver speeches at JNF fundraising dinners in Melbourne and Sydney.
FORTY years ago this past July, Shaul Mofaz was deputy commander of Operation Entebbe – the heroic mission to rescue 94 hostages hijacked on an Air France plane and held captive by pro-Palestinian terrorists at the Ugandan airport.
Four decades on, having served as IDF chief of staff, minister of defence and deputy prime minister, Mofaz continues to fight for the Jewish people and for Israel on the international stage.
In Australia this week, as a guest of JNF, he met with a number of senior federal and state politicians to discuss a range of security issues, including the threats posed by Iran, ISIS and cyberterrorism, and how these affect both countries.
Speaking one on one to The AJN on Tuesday morning, Mofaz lamented, “We won’t be able to stop ISIS spreading and they will continue to terrorise and continue to create mega terrors.
“ISIS are controlling 12 million people in Syria. Bombing from the air is not enough and we need to do more.”
Mofaz also noted a change in the way conflicts are now being fought, no longer confined to troops and weapons on the battlefield.
“In the past few years, the world has been in a cyberwar, there is no question,” he said. “But it is under the table, not in the media.
“In a few years, you will hear and see in the media, more and more information about states attacking states, it is a real threat to the world’s economy.”
Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mofaz insisted that a two-state solution is the only way forward. “We need the concept of the two-state solution,” he said. “It is against Jewish values to control other nations.”
He also hailed it as a demographic imperative. “We cannot accept the solution of a one-state solution, because long term we would lose the majority of the Jewish people in the State of Israel,” he told The AJN .
Reflecting on another source of tension for Israel – namely the frosty relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama – Mofaz was adamant that the friendship between Washington and Jerusalem was still solid.
“The US are our best allies and we’ve had support every year since the establishment of the State of Israel,” he said. “It is essential to the security of the State of Israel.”
He added that in every alliance there may be disagreements, but they remain between the leaders of the nations and not the people of the nations.
“We need the support of the US as our biggest allies, and they need us as the only democratic country in the Middle East,” he stressed.
For all the talk of terror and tensions, Mofaz was certainly upbeat about one issue – namely Australian Jewry’s unwavering commitment to the Jewish State.
“I believe we will see more young people from Australia coming to Israel … we are very thankful to them all,” he said, adding, “Supporting Israel from Australia from the Jewish community, this is the new Zionism of this generation.”
DANIEL SHANDLER
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