Former IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi participated in an event organized by Israel Rises, a national initiative by leading CEOs for residents of the Gaza envelope, and criticized the evacuation of communities in northern and southern Israel during the war. "Israel is being packed into Gush Dan (greater Tel Aviv). We are losing entire territories. The state is being reduced to Gush Dan, we are losing entire territories. The majority of my years in the IDF were spent in border communities. On the way down to the IDF officer's training base, you see land that was taken from us." He added: "The State of Israel is shrinking, and there is a question of what our vision is for the state. We want a flourishing and attractive western Negev. If a young couple debates between living in Rishon Lezion and the western Negev, that will be the test. I say this carefully," Kochavi stated.
