JERUSALEM - In a press conference announcing his decision to enter politics, Former IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. General (ret.) Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon said he could no longer "just sit idly by" during these critical times.
 

With Likud party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu at his side, Ya'alon told reporters that his long-awaited decision wasn't about which party he would join, but rather whether he would enter politics at all.
 
"My deliberation was not whether to join this or that party, but whether to enter politics," he said.
 
"The challenges Israel faces require drastic change, considering the feeling of crisis" the former IDF chief said, adding that "the withdrawals must end."
 
Ya'alon said that after meeting with Netanyahu for the past two years, he realized that there was a like-mindedness in strategic, defensive and political issues.
 
"I don't see the Likud as a default choice," he said. "I found a correlation between my way of thinking and Likud's views, and I see it as a real home," he said.
 Netanyahu welcomed Ya'alon to the party.
 
"To me, Bogie is the number one soldier," Netanyahu told reporters. "He brings with him an ethical policy I can only term Israel of yore," he said.
 
Source: YNet news