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Jack Cohen

Dagan and Diskin – double trouble

Who are the terrible twins of Israeli politics? Dagan and Diskin! Meir Dagan was Head of Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence agency, until he was forced to resign last year. Yuval Diskin was Head of Shin Bet, the Israeli domestic intelligence service, until he was also terminated. Now both of them are publicly criticizing PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who were their bosses until a few months ago.

Israeli law prohibits them from taking jobs in any capacity for a year that could jeopardize their former access to state secrets. But, apparently it does not prevent them from making inflammatory statements that not only disparage the two leaders of Israel’s government, but are also calculated to undermine Israel’s primary policies regarding Iran and the Palestinians. It is utterly amazing that these two former Israeli heads of the secret services would be so cavalier in their statements that they could put Israel’s future in danger.

Dagan has gone on record questioning the sanity of Netanyahu and Barak threatening to attack Iran over its nuclear weapons program. Most commentators agree that Iran does have such a program and that it is unacceptable to Israel and the US for Iran to bring that program to a successful completion. If Iran had nuclear weapons then the fundamentalist regime in Iran could use them to wipe out Israel. But, Netanyahu (and Obama) has been at pains to stress the need for “crippling” sanctions on Iran, although “all possibilities are on the table.” Last Friday Diskin stated that Netanyahu and Barak are guided by “messianic” impulses that call into question their commitment to Israel’s real interests. In other words they are merely scare-mongers and war-mongers deliberately manipulating the situation to their own political ends. But, how could these two apparatchiks, who served these same political bosses for years, have suddenly discovered that they are not pursuing policies that are in Israel’s interests. Why didn’t they resign years ago?

It is evident that these two pseudo-politicians, who are both upset at having been fired by Netanyahu, are trying to get even. It is they who appear to be on the verge of insanity and self-delusion. What they have done in undermining the Governments policies towards Iran especially is not merely freedom of speech, it is tantamount to treason. Why were they given a forum by the Jerusalem Post at its jamboree in New York, why were they allowed to spew this political garbage? They should be arrested on their return to Israel and be tried for treason.

About the Author
Jack Cohen was born in London and has a PhD in Chemistry from Cambridge University. He moved to the US and worked at the National Cancer Inst. and then Georgetown Medical School. In 1996, he Moved to Israel and became Chief Scientist of the Sheba Medical Center. He retired in 2001 and worked as a Visiting Professor at Hebrew University Medical School for 5 years.