NOVANEWS
Palestine papers: Shaul Mofaz
Former IDF chief of staff and defence minister who was a key figure in co-ordinating security with the Palestinian Authority
Shaul Mofaz visiting a Jewish settlement during his time as Israeli defence minister. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Shaul Mofaz served as defence minister under Ariel Sharon in the runup to Israel‘s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in August 2005 and was a key figure in security co-ordination with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The main effort was to galvanise Fatah to fight Hamas and other groups and to keep up the pressure once the Gaza “disengagement” was completed. Israel’s strategy, then as now, was to persuade the PA to take action – but act itself if necessary, by carrying out arrests and targeted assassinations of wanted militants, especially those involved in planning suicide bombings.
Mofaz complained to US diplomats quoted in WikiLeaks cables that President Mahmoud Abbas was a “one man show” who understood Israel’s security problems and gave occasional orders to take action – though PA forces did not always obey them. He worried that his opposite number, the PA interior minister, Nasser Youssef, was seen as a threat by Abbas.
Born in Iran in 1948, Mofaz emigrated to Israel with his family as a child. Trained as a paratrooper, he fought in the wars of 1967, 1973 and 1982 and took part in the famous 1976 rescue of Israeli hostages in Entebbe, Uganda.
He was the Israel Defence Forces’ chief of staff during the second intifada, the 2002 offensive against Jenin and the siege of Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. After leaving the army he followed the familiar pattern of Israeli generals and went into politics.
Mofaz left the defence ministry after Israel’s 2006 elections. But he seemed indecisive, first rejecting Sharon’s invitation to join the newly-formed centrist party, Kadima, then announcing his candidacy for the leadership of Likud before changing his mind to join Kadima.
In 2008 he was narrowly beaten by Tzipi Livni for the Kadima leadership but remains an MP. He recently criticised Binyamin Netanyahu for failing to pursue a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
