Summary
Overview
Ami Ayalon, former commander of the Israeli Navy and director of Shin Bet, discusses his remarkable journey from military service to intelligence leadership and his evolving understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In a deeply introspective conversation, he argues that Israel has already won its existential war, challenges the continuation of military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, critiques the current Netanyahu government, and makes the controversial statement that if he were Palestinian, he would fight the Israeli occupation. Speaking from his olive grove with 600-year-old trees, Ayalon explores themes of democracy under threat, the human cost of conflict, and his belief that only international pressure and a two-state solution can save Israel's democratic future.
From the Jordan Valley to Naval Command: A Soldier's Path
Ami Ayalon recounts his origins as a child born in 1945 in the Jordan Valley during the British Mandate, growing up under Syrian shelling but with a clear purpose: building the state of Israel. He joined the Naval Commando at 18, planning to serve just a few years, but found himself drawn into a 35-year military career that culminated in commanding the Israeli Navy. His journey from kibbutz life to military leadership was shaped by the Six Day War and the War of Attrition, when the security of the nation felt like it rested on his generation's shoulders.
- Born in 1945 in the Jordan Valley, parents came as legal immigrants during British Mandate
- Joined Naval Commando at 18, ended up serving 35 years and becoming commander of Israeli Navy
- Participated in dangerous operations including the Green Island raid where 6 of 35 commandos died
- Left kibbutz after Six Day War when security felt like it was on his generation's shoulders
" When I was 18 years old, I joined the military, in my case, the Naval Commando. The idea was to do it for three, four years, but I found myself leaving the Navy after a military career of about 35 years as a commander of the Israeli Navy. I fought too many wars, too many battles, too many operations. Too many. Too many. I lost too many friends. "
The Father and the Lake: Personal Responsibility to Collective Fate
In an intimate story revealing the source of his sense of duty, Ayalon describes his father who came in 1938 and could never separate his personal life from the collective security of Israel. Living on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in old age, when asked daily how he felt, his father would report the level of the lake - Israel's only source of fresh water at the time - rather than his own health. This inability to distinguish between personal wellbeing and the state of the nation shaped Ayalon's own sense of responsibility. He finds himself in his father's shoes, caring about the level of the lake as much as his own condition, unable to separate from collective concerns even in retirement.
- Father came to Israel in 1938, could never separate personal life from collective security concerns
- In old age at 90, when asked how he felt, would report level of Sea of Galilee (Israel's fresh water)
- Father saw no distinction between his health and the health of the nation
- Ayalon realized since War of Attrition he is in his father's shoes with same inability to separate
" I remember that when he was very old, he came in 1938 and when he was 90 years old before he died I used to ask him every day by phone, how do you feel? And his house is built on the shore of the lake, Lake of Galilee. And on the other side of the lake, he just sees the Hermon Mountain. But what he cared about is the level of the sea, the level of the lake. And he said, well, because this was the only source of sweet water for Israel. So he said, well, how do I feel? I said, not very well. And I knew that it's not him, it's the level of the lake. And he couldn't separate between the level of the lake and, you know, and the state of the nation. "
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