Izencott breaks the silence: One and a half years after his departure from the IDF, the former chief of staff signals that he is aiming for politics • On Iran: "We restrained its base in Syria" • On the incident in Khan Yunis: "We were ready for war" Everything, there's nothing there. "• The special interview - tomorrow you sit down

• Isnkut. "Want to make a better country"

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A year and a half after completing his post as chief of staff and retiring from the IDF, Gadi Eisenkot first hinted that he intended to join the political arena. In an exclusive interview to be published tomorrow at the Sitting Supplement, he says: "I want to make an impact again."

Izencott says that after a year and a half of staying in his "personal comfort zone", he wants to return. "I look at my predecessors - my son, Gabi, Pioneer, Mofaz, Boogie, and also back, Barak and Rabin and others. Lightning in the eyes? Wait a bit longer. "

Eisenkott at the Herzliya Conference // Photo Archive

In the past, those who know you have argued that politics is wrong for you. It doesn't sound like that today.

"I was a military secretary to two prime ministers, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon, and I was with them for 16-12 hours a day. I saw closely that the impact was through leadership and through the systems. Sharon told me he appreciated thinking and planning, but most importantly, it was performance. The military - once you decide, everyone does what you decide - in politics, once you decide, everyone works to thwart your decision. And yes, I think the military has features that may be less appropriate for politics, but it's important that we keep them. Matters, state and personal example. "

Eisenkott talks extensively about the campaign against Iran. "This is a decision approved by the Cabinet in early 2017. Since I see it being said and said all kinds of things, then I will say that this decision the Cabinet made, in my push and recommendation, is a major decision. The Israeli public may not see it, but it affects it in Gaza and in all Elsewhere, the Iranians, and Quds Force in particular, have been severely beaten for the past four years. What they have been able to do to us is disproportionate to the blows they have kidnapped from us. "

Outgoing Defense Minister Bennett said this week that Iranians are beginning to withdraw from Syria.

"A target of getting them out of there should be set, but those who think it will attack several times and it will happen, make a bitter mistake. .

In the interview, Eisenkott also refers to the situation in Gaza and the north, the Hezbollah and Hamas tunnels that were thwarted during his time, the possibility of annexation of the Jordan Valley and parts of Judea and Samaria, the multi-year program of a stellar replacer and the state of Israel's conduct in the Corona crisis. His service in Lebanon and the friends he lost there, and for the first time also refers to the special operation that failed in Khan Yunis at the end of his term as chief of staff.

"The operation has evolved as it has evolved, and I immediately realized that this was the most serious situation of this kind, but I had great confidence that the force that was there was the strongest force in the Middle East," he said. "I heard them, and I saw Col. H. and his security, and I trusted them, together with the realization that there was a serious event here that could be more complicated. I had already started rolling out a broad assault and the possibility of bringing in forces, because I was not prepared for an event like Gilad Shalit to repeat itself.

"I picked up a phone call to Norkin (then Air Force commander), and told him to be ready with all the air force's ability to crush whatever it took to get them out. For me, there was no question at all that we would do everything and return them."

All you need is war too?

"Until war, yes. It didn't occur to me to leave soldiers there."

And what about Gaza? Is it possible to reach agreements with Hamas?

"Yes, but they should be based on the agreements reached in Cairo on the last day of Operation Protective Edge: a complete ceasefire, the opening of the crossings and fishing grounds, the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip and the beginning of the Gaza reconstruction, the settling of the prisoner and missing issue, the opening of the Gaza air port and the establishment of a maritime port" .

How far should you go in the prisoner and missing deal?

"There have been a lot of deals in the past. The model of a ruler deal must not be repeated, because in the end, it released a lot of terrorists and took a very serious breath of terror. We paid heavy prices for it."

So what is it?

"I think the Goldwasser-Regev deal was paid the right price. They got Samir Kuntar, who was treated later, and four other prisoners and 120 bodies. So we have to bring them to the understanding that they pay a price for holding two Israeli civilians who went there for non-combat, and that they Holding soldiers' bodies and abusing families. "

Eisenkott also refers to attacks in the political system on the Mendelblit High Court, who was at that time the Chief Military Advocate. Those who attack him today accuse him of being prevented from the Harpaz affair, which Eisenkott knows very well. I think it's a mistake that doesn't open everything, but there is nothing in this event. Maybe an inadequate grade in behavior. "