Yuval Diskin, formerly the head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) on Monday evening blasted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Likud over their criticism of statements made by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan at a leftist rally this past Saturday night.
At the rally, Dagan attacked Netanyahu and blamed him for the summer war and for the current security situation.
“Israel is a country surrounded by enemies, but the enemies do not scare me,” Dagan said. “I’m afraid of our leadership. I fear the lack of vision and loss of the path. I’m afraid of indecision and stagnation. I’m afraid, above all, of a crisis of leadership. And the leadership crisis here is the most serious we have had to date.”
“I do not want a binational state,” he continued. “I do not want us to become an apartheid state. I do not want sovereignty over another three million Arabs. I do not want us to remain hostages to fear, despair and stagnation.”
The Likud fired back by branding Dagan a leftist and saying that he wanted to extend his tenure as head of the Mossad when he served under Netanyahu.
Diskin on Monday responded to the Likud’s criticism of Dagan on Facebook.
“Anyone who can compare port workers and Israel Broadcasting Authority workers, among them fighters in Israel’s wars, to Hamas, can turn Meir Dagan, who was twice injured in wars, who was decorated and who led courageous operations in the IDF and in the Mossad, into an ungrateful leftist and almost into a hater of Israel,” wrote Diskin, referring to a controversial Likud election ad for which Netanyahu apologized.
“I saw the pitiable response of the Likud to Meir Dagan’s speech, in which he was described as a frustrated ‘leftist’ who wanted to extend his tenure under Netanyahu who refused to do so. From personal information, I can tell you that if Dagan is a ‘leftist’ by nature, then I guess Netanyahu and Likud secretly hold a membership card in the Joint Arab List,” he continued.
“I also read the words of Ofir Akunis, an honorary member of Likud’s ‘trash talk’ band, who attacked the ingratitude of Meir Dagan for Netanyahu who ‘saved his life’. I looked for a moment, thinking I might not have remembered correctly, and Netanyahu donated his own liver to Meir Dagan,” Diskin charged.
“From a close personal testimony I will say that Meir Dagan did more with regards to Iran and other security issues than Netanyahu and all the other Likud speakers combined,” he added. “Contrary to Netanyahu, what [Dagan] did was not just talking to the United Nations or the Congress (I am not belittling the importance) and when the day comes, the people of Israel will know and understand what this is about.”
“Meir Dagan does not specialize in speeches, but as you saw at the rally he is a real, authentic person, a huge patriot who is concerned, as are many others including myself, about the future of the Zionist dream. Apparently that’s enough to discredit him in an ugly way,” said Diskin.
“I can tell you first-hand that if Dagan wanted to serve as head of the Mossad, it was only out of a sense of a mission and commitment that he had, especially on the Iranian nuclear issue. This is an area that he largely led during his years as head of the Mossad and no matter who the prime minister was.”
“One can agree or disagree with Dagan. You can attack his views and try to undermine them. But to stoop so low?” said Diskin.
Diskin is known for his strong criticism of Netanyahu, and has in the past blasted Netanyahu as weak when it comes to the peace process with the Palestinian Authority.
He previously portrayed Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Ehud Barak as “messianic” and “unfit to hold the reins of power.”
