Former Israeli Domestic Intel Chief Criticizes PM on Iran
Via BBC: Israel ex-security chief says leadership ‘misleading public’ on Iran
The former head of Israel’s domestic intelligence agency has accused the country’s leadership of "misleading" the public on the merits of a possible military strike on Iran.
Yuval Diskin said an attack might speed up any attempt by Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb.
The comment follows remarks by other leading figures contradicting the prime minister and defence chief’s views on the subject.
[…]
Mr Diskin, who stepped down as Shin Bet chief last year after six years, said he had "no faith in the current leadership" of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Barak, according to Israeli media reports.
"I don’t believe in a leadership that makes decisions based on messianic feelings," he said at a public meeting.
"They are misleading the public on the Iran issue. They tell the public that if Israel acts, Iran won’t have a nuclear bomb. This is misleading. Actually, many experts say that an Israeli attack would accelerate the Iranian nuclear race."
At a minimum, this underscores that despite popular perception in large swaths of the US, Israel is not a monolith composed of persons with identical views on Iran.
Couple these statements with those of current IDF chief that I noted the other day and we not only less than hysterical views on Iran we have people who are well informed holding such views.
This is worth keeping in mind as some in our country beat the drums of war and talk of Israel as if it is a singular person so fearful of its existence that it is insisting on war. This is not the case.
Wow – amazing. Anti-Semites infiltrating Israel’s intelligence services, up to the highest levels!!
As we saw in the US circa 2003; it doesn’t matter what Israel as a whole wants, all it takes is a cadre of people in power who have identical views and are fearful of their existence to start a war.
The problem is that Israel itself is becoming more conservative as the Orthodox Jews take over. A fellow I went to high school with just moved back to the US after over 30 years in Israel. As a secular Jew he just couldn’t take the direction the country was going.
As the drums of war beat in the lead-up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq there were some voices of reason. It didn’t matter. Some were simply ignored. Some, like Plame, had their careers destroyed and their lives put in danger.
Romney would return many of the same idiots to power. And in his constant effort to be all things to all people…they will be free to pursue all of their messianic wet-dreams.
Hopefully, we have learned lessons from 2003 and there are people willing to push back on those beating the drums of war. An Iran war will be a total disaster. I can’t think of a plausible scenario that would work. And apparently neither can those who run the war game simulations.
But remember, kids, the Iranians are crazy! We have to bomb them!