BY YONAH JEREMY BOB
The rift between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank “is a plus” for Israeli security, former IDF deputy chief of staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan said on Wednesday.
In spite of the current national unity agreement between the two Palestinian groups, Golan, speaking at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies conference, said “there is no Palestinian national unity” and that, putting aside diplomatic concerns, “for struggling against terrorism” it is “better for Israel” that there is a rupture.
Moving on to the Hamas tunnel threat, Golan firmly endorsed the IDF’s strategy of building an above- and below-ground barrier along the Gaza border, despite the multi-billion shekel price tag.
Noting that he was directly involved in approving the strategy, he said that Israel has sufficient resources to pay for building the wall without sacrificing funding for other vital capabilities.
Moreover, Golan said, “we need to get to a point where we can say to the residents of the Gaza corridor that the tunnel threat is zero.”
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