Ex-army chief running on Gantz-Lapid ticket says Jordan Valley is Israel's border

Former Israeli military chief Gabi Ashkenazi, who has been placed in the fourth spot on the Blue and White party’s Knesset slate, yesterday declared that the Jordan Valley is Israel’s border.

The Jordan Valley runs down the eastern side of the occupied West Bank, and would constitute an integral part of any potential Palestinian state in the occupied Palestinian territory.

According pro-settler news site Arutz Sheva, citing a report by Israel’s Channel 13, Ashkenazi’s remarks constituted the first time that the former military man had expressed such views.

“We have to set borders for Israel, with the emphasis of the Jordan Valley in our hands. We should strive to set borders, especially in a situation where only half of the public enlists in the army, and this is a dangerous situation,” Ashkenazi told a closed meeting of the Telem and Israel Resilience parties.

Israel Resilience, headed by former Israeli army chief Benny Gantz, and Telem, headed by former army chief Moshe Ya’alon, are running together with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party on a joint ticket.

Ashkenazi was vague with respect to a two-state solution, telling attendees: “They ask me all the time if I’m in favour of one state or two states, and I always answer: I’m in favour of the State of Israel.”

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