Ami Ayalon

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Ami Ayalon (Hebrew: עמי איילון) (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.

1 Military and Security Service
2 Peace Activity
3 See also

[edit] Military and Security Service

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.

[edit] Peace Activity

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, did not succeed in flowing to the majority of the people. The majority {Hebrew: "Ha-Rov" הרוב} 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 manage to settle in the hearts {Hebrew: להתנחל בלבבות, originally a phrase invented by the settlers} of this true majority, that makes the difference. We didn't manage to talk and perhaps we didn't even want to. We turned the settlers of Yesha into enemies and in an overbearing manner we banished them to the outskirsts. We believed that we will only succeed when the grief of the evacuees will overcome the joyous cry of the evacuators. We claimed the desire for peace solely as our own. {Therefore} The majority sits at home and is quiet, although it wants out of Gaza the same as we do. The majority doesn't care, and shouldn't care, which person signs the accords to end the {Israeli-Palestinian} conflict. In order to get out of Gaza, the majority in the people must not be silent.

Note: The speech was originally conveyed in Hebrew; the translators' comments are in {brackets}. [1]