Ex-Shin Bet chief: Palestinians have right to defend their land

Former Israeli Shin Bet Director Ami Ayalon has defended Palestinians’ right to resist occupation saying if he were a Palestinian he “would fight without limits against those who steal my land.”

“As far as they [Palestinians] are concerned, they have lost their land, so when they ask me if I were a Palestinian what would I do, I say: If someone steals my land, the Land of Israel, I would fight him without limits,” Ayalon said in an interview with local Maariv newspaper, excerpts of which were published yesterday ahead of the release of the full interview today.

Ayalon referred to former foreign minister and army leader Moshe Dayan’s speech during the funeral of Israeli soldier Roi Rotenberg who said Israelis “cannot blame” the Palestinians who killed Rotenberg in 1956.

“The Palestinians see themselves as a people. One of our tragedies is that we see them as individuals. Some are good and some are bad. We think that if they can earn a living and feed their children, the problem will be solved. No. They are willing to kill and be killed not just for food. They talk about ending the occupation, about independence,” Ayalon continued.

“The Palestinians don’t want what Israel is proposing, and for their part they want a Palestinian state… We have stolen their land and they will fight against us.”

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