Ex-Israeli general admits he was ‘commander of occupation’

A former high-ranking Israeli military figure has described the Tel Aviv regime as the “champion” of the occupation that has turned into an “art” form.

“We brought the occupation to a level of art. We are the world champions of occupation. I was head of Central Command. The commander of the occupation,” Major General Gadi Shamni, the former head of the Israeli army’s Central Command and a former military attaché in the United States, said in a speech at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he claimed that the “only acceptable solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is a separation agreement from the Palestinians,” because, he said, the “Palestinians will not accept the continuation of the endless Israeli occupation.”

The occupied territories have witnessed new tensions ever since the Israeli forces introduced restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.

At least 236 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces in the tensions since the beginning of last October.