Ashkenazi hints: Iron Dome could be deployed in North
IDF chief also tells FADC that failure in negotiations could lead to violence, though he says it wouldn't reach level of violence seen in October 2000; MK Eldad says Ashkenazi being "unnecessarily ambivalent."
By REBECCA ANNA STOIL, JPOST.COM STAFFAshkenazi 311(photo credit: Channel 10)IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi on Tuesday hinted that the Iron Dome missile interception system could be deployed in the North instead of being used against rocket attacks from Gaza.Speaking to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Ashkenazi said that the first batch will be deployed in November this year, "not necessarily" in the South.RELATED:PM hints at placing IDF forces in PA state after any dealAbbas: Israel can call itself whatever it wantsThe IDF chief also warned that that violent clashes could resume between Israelis and Palestinians, if there is a failure in peace negotiations between the two sides. However, he said that he does not believe that the initial Palestinian reaction to any possible failure of talks would look at all similar to the violence of 2000."We must be prepared for every possibility," Ashkenazi told the committee."The Palestinians have relatively low expectations regarding progress, whereas in Israel, tensions exist among the Jewish population and the aspiration to end the construction freeze in settlements."MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) criticized Ashkanazi's assessment of the situation in the West Bank as unnecessarily ambivalent saying "Ashkenazi basically said either it will rain tomorrow or it will not""Thereis no doubt that the Palestinians are planning an armed conflict, and are waiting to use the failure of negotiations as an excuse," he continued.
