hebrew → English transcript

I am appointed chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,

and this is ahead of the Second Gulf War,

their war against Iraq.

Everyone's claim was,

that, contrary to the agreements with him in the past,

Saddam Hussein is hiding 100 ballistic missiles,

that can reach Israel as well,

with chemical weapons.

The State of Israel prepares.

We bring in Patriot missile batteries from Germany.

Special units prepare to operate in western Iraq.

The Air Force patrols the skies 24/7.

We call up the reserves,

manufacture, at costs of billions,

millions of gas masks and distribute them to the entire population,

so that everyone will have one.

And in the end, even before the war,

we shut down work and schools,

except for essential factories.

The war ends,

it turns out there was nothing there.

They didn't find a single ballistic missile.

A colossal mistake.

I say to myself, if here they erred by overestimating,

they could just as easily, tomorrow, err by underestimating.

Tomorrow, something will happen and they won't see it.

I decide to set up a commission of inquiry.

Before that, I see the Minister of Defense, Shaul Mofaz,

at some wedding in Afula at night.

I say to myself, why should he hear it from the media?

I take him aside and tell him about my decision.

He slammed his fist on the table and said to me,

I will not let you harm the IDF.

I have dedicated my whole life to the security of the state,

And I will not let the politicians in the Knesset harm the IDF.

The IDF; Mofaz, as defense minister; and Boogie,

Boogie Ya'alon as Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Farkash, head of Aman.

Head of Aman.

They kept trying to oppose setting up the committee and threatened not to come.

In the end, everyone cooperates.

I suddenly realize,

as a result of the review of what happened in Iraq,

that apparently there is a nuclear program in Syria that we are not picking up on.

After two years, the nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor was indeed discovered,

and a year later it was blown up by the Air Force.