2008 Woodie Awards
A Patriot Speaks
An Interview with Brigadier General Mike Herzog
Ari Fridman
Issue date: 8/31/05 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 5 next >
Aside from the economic and political benefits that he believes disengagement offers Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could no longer ignore a demographic reality in which fewer than 10,000 Jewish settlers lived among 1.3 million Palestinians. According to Brigadier General Mike Herzog, a senior Israeli military official on leave from the Israel Defense Forces and currently a Visiting Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Middle East think tank in Washington, D.C, this is what drove Sharon to carry out Israel's historic unilateral disengagement from 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank this past August. Keenly aware of opposition to the pullout, Herzog asserts that Sharon and his loyalists recognize that disengagement will not guarantee a marked security improvement. However, coupled with economic resurgence in Gaza and a determined effort by the Palestinian Authority to stamp out violence, disengagement could improve Israel's security, Herzog told The Commentator in a wide-ranging mid-August interview.
Disengagement and the Palestinian Authority
In a country where taxi drivers speak with the authority of the Prime Minister, Herzog is uniquely qualified to dissect disengagement's military, political and economic implications, having dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict up close and personal for much of his over 35-year career in the IDF. Before taking up his current post, Herzog served from 2001-2004 as a senior military aide and advisor to the defense minister. After a lengthy career first as an infantry soldier and then later in Military Intelligence, Herzog eventually rose to the head of the IDF's strategic planning division, which he headed from 1998-2001. During his tenure at strategic planning, he participated in what are widely considered to be the most intense negotiations ever held between Israelis and Palestinians over final status issues, including talks held at the Wye Plantation, Camp David and Taba.
Disengagement and the Palestinian Authority
In a country where taxi drivers speak with the authority of the Prime Minister, Herzog is uniquely qualified to dissect disengagement's military, political and economic implications, having dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict up close and personal for much of his over 35-year career in the IDF. Before taking up his current post, Herzog served from 2001-2004 as a senior military aide and advisor to the defense minister. After a lengthy career first as an infantry soldier and then later in Military Intelligence, Herzog eventually rose to the head of the IDF's strategic planning division, which he headed from 1998-2001. During his tenure at strategic planning, he participated in what are widely considered to be the most intense negotiations ever held between Israelis and Palestinians over final status issues, including talks held at the Wye Plantation, Camp David and Taba.