Ami Ayalon
Ami Ayalon () (born
1945) is a former
Israeli
admiral and current
peace activist. In 2006 he was elected as member of
Knesset for the
Israeli Labor Party.
Ayalon served his entire military service in the
Israeli Navy. He enlisted in
1963 and volunteered for the
Shayetet 13 navy
commando unit. In
1969 he was decorated for bravery for his conduct in
Operation Bulmus 6 - the assault on fortified
Green Island, Egypt (jointly with
Sayeret Matkal). In
1979 Ayalon was appointed commander of Shayetet 13, and was once again decorated - this time for carrying out a long list of operations without casualties. In
1992 Ayalon received the rank of admiral and was appointed commander of the Israeli Navy. He retired from active service in
1995.
Following
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination in 1995, Ayalon was "parachuted" into the post of head of the
Shin Bet - Israel's internal
security service. He retired in
2000.
On
June 25,
2003, Ayalon launched, together with
Palestinian professor
Sari Nusseibeh, a
peace initiative called "The
National Census". The goal of the initiative is to collect as many signatures of Israelis and Palestinians as possible for the peace plan guidelines supporting a two state solution without the
right of return for
Palestinian refugees.
See main article: The People's Voice.
Though Ayalon promotes traditional
left wing ideas, he insists he is not a part of the Israeli left and spurns the
Israeli peace camp for its hostility toward the Israeli public and especially toward the
settlers. Ayalon managed to outrage many left-wing activists when he said that only
Ariel Sharon and the
Likud could bring peace.
He took part in "Mate ha-Rov" demonstration for support the withdrawal from the
Gaza Strip and carried out a very critical speech against the Israeli peace camp. He said:
We, who protest here, do not succeeded to flow into the majority of the people. The majority {Hebrew: "Ha-Rov" ×"רוב} is silent and therefore does not influence. I will tell you why the majority is not here. They are not here because we didn't managed to settle in the hearts {Hebrew: ל×"×ª× ×—×œ בלבבות, originally a phrase invented by the settlers} of this true majority, who makes the difference. We didn't managed to talk and perhaps we didn't even wanted to.We turned the settlers of Yesha into enemies and in lordship manner we banished them outside the fence. We'll only succeed when the grief of the evacuees will overcome the joyous cry of the evacuators. We claimed the desire to peace solely as our own. {Therefore} The majority sits at home and is quiet, although he wants out of Gaza the same that we do. The majority doesn't care, and shouldn't care, who's the one who will sign the accord to end the {Israeli-Palestinian} conflict. In order to get out of Gaza, the majority in the people must stop to be silent.
Note: The speech was originally conveyed in Hebrew; the translators' comments are in {brackets}. [
1]
*
National Census*
Israeli peace camp
