The failure to reach a deal to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict poses a bigger existential threat to Israel than the Iranian nuclear programme, according a former head of the country's security agency, Shin Bet.
Yuval Diskin, who left office two years ago, criticised the continuing occupation and the growth of settlements in the West Bank, saying a solution based on two states would soon no longer be an option.
"I would like to know that our national home has clear borders and that we hold the people sacred, not the land. I would like to see a national home that is not maintained by occupying another people. I say this even though it's not popular: we need an agreement now, before we reach a point of no return from which the two-state solution is not an option any longer," Diskin said in a speech to mark the 10th anniversary of the Geneva Initiative, a peace plan proposed by Israeli and Palestinian politicians and public figures.
The former security chief, who featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary The Gatekeepers, added: "We cannot live in one state between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea and we cannot treat the conflict as shrapnel in the backside." He was referring to comments by the economy minister Naftali Bennett, who dismissed the conflict as "shrapnel in [the] rear end".
Diskin called for a freeze in settlement expansion, saying that the release of long-serving Palestinian prisoners, agreed by the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, before the current talks began, was "a disgusting and cynical move that was born out of a desire to avoid freezing settlement construction".
Speaking as the US secretary of state, John Kerry, arrived in Jerusalem for a fresh push at unblocking the current talks process, Diskin warned of the consequences of the Israeli government's stance.
"It doesn't seem like the current government is trying to change the direction of the settlement enterprise. Our friends in the world are becoming frustrated with the implementation of the two-state solution. There is immense frustration in the West Bank. The Palestinians are feeling that their state is being stolen from them. The Palestinian masses feel they have no future. We must take into account the link between the Palestinians and their brothers, the Israeli Arabs. The concentration of fuel fumes in the air is such that even a small spark can cause a massive explosion."
Palestinian youths "that were born into occupation are distressed, frustrated and hopeless", he added.
Diskin has repeatedly criticised Israeli government policy since leaving the Shin Bet, which runs security and intelligence operations in the West Bank and Gaza. His comments were dismissed by serving officials as "recycled criticism and self-righteous preaching". Diskin was "out of touch with reality", they said.
And here is a former Mossad chief too criticising Netanhayu !
http://www.timesofisrael.com/former-mos ... u-on-iran/
Former Mossad chief defends decision to defy Netanyahu on Iran
The political echelon must listen to its security chiefs, says Meir Dagan, asserting that Tehran’s nuclear drive ‘can always be stopped’
By Aaron Kalman April 28, 2013,
Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90)
Aaron Kalman Aaron Kalman is a writer and breaking news editor for the Times of Israel
A former chief of Israel’s Mossad spy agency has come out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy of setting “red lines” for Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the Islamic Republic’s effort to develop nuclear weapons can be countered at any time.
In an interview with Channel 2′s investigative news program “Uvda,” Meir Dagan warned that by beating the drums of war, Netanyahu was putting Israel at risk of provoking Iran to strike preemptively.
Dagan alluded to a fateful meeting during which he, then-Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin, and then-chief of the General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-defense minister Ehud Barak and other members of the cabinet in a Mossad club room to discuss the prospect of attacking Iran.
During the meeting, all three of the security chiefs reportedly defied Netanyahu and Barak’s order that the military prepare for a solo strike on Iran, and eventually swayed several key ministers to their side.
“I think that when a serious group from the security establishment shows up, and everyone has a similar opinion, the political echelon should listen,” Dagan said in the “Uvda” interview, which was previewed Sunday and was slated to be aired in full on Monday. “I’m not sure that, in our history, there was ever a situation where the political echelon thought something and the entire professional echelon thought otherwise.”
But though there were big gaps in the approaches of various officials, “no one doubted the political echelon’s authority to make decisions,” he said.
“As opposed to the stance of the prime minister, I think Iran’s [nuclear] armament can always be delayed,” added Dagan, who headed the Mossad for almost a decade.
The very act of preparing the army for the possibility of launching a strike could cause the Iranians to ready their troops, he said, and “as a result you can enter an impossible reality in which everyone is preparing for war, while it’s possible no one wants it.”
During the 2010 meeting with the security chiefs, Dagan reportedly called the order to ready for war “illegal,” while Ashkenazi declared that an attack on Iran would be “a strategic mistake.”)
Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Ehud Barak at the Defense Ministry in 2012 (photo credit: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry/Flash90)
“This isn’t the sort of thing that you do unless you’re certain that you’ll end up launching an operation,” Ashkenazi was quoted as saying. “It’s like an accordion that makes music even if it is merely handled.”
Dagan, the report said, was even more ardent than the chief of staff in his dissent.
“You may end up going to war based on an illegal decision,” the former intelligence chief was quoted as saying. “Only the security cabinet is authorized to make such a decision.”
Later, Dagan would say that “the prime minister and the defense minister tried to steal a war — it was as simple as that.”
His own Finance Minister on Iran:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/s ... ch-mistake
Israeli boycott of Rouhani UN speech 'a mistake', says finance minister
Yair Lapid attacks PM Binyamin Netanyahu's instruction to Israeli delegation to leave during Iranian president's address
And the latest snub from O'Bomber himself just 2 days ago.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold ... u-shut-up/
Obama to Netanyahu: Shut Up
The Obama administration can’t take the heat. Stung by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction to the so-called “deal” made with Iran, President Obama has asked the Israeli leader to “take a breather from his clamorous criticism,” according to the Washington Post’s David Ignatius.
Netanyahu’s anger is justified. Despite the ostensible reality that Israel is America’s staunchest Middle East ally, the Obama administration was engaged in six months of secret, high-level talks with Israel’s foremost enemy. Obama informed Netanyahu of this reality on September 30. And while he seemingly took Obama’s announcement in stride, a day later the Israeli Prime Minister delivered a blistering speech to the UN General Assembly, calling Iranian President Hasan Rouhani a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” looking to exploit this latest diplomatic effort to advance his nation’s nuclear weapons agenda. He also made it clear where his nation stood on the issue. “I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons,” he insisted. “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”
In the following weeks, there was no let up by Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, and on November 24 Obama phoned the Prime Minister in an effort assuage his concerns. The two leaders agreed to have an Israeli delegation, headed by National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, ensconced in Washington, D.C. to iron out a deal that keeps Israel in the loop going forward. Obama also assured Netanyahu the both nations were on the same page with regard Iranian policy goals. It was during that phone call that Obama reportedly asked Netanyahu to tone down his rhetoric.
By last Thursday, it became apparent that while Netanyahu might shift his criticism away from the deal itself, he was not about to keep quiet. “The largest darkness that threatens the world today is a nuclear Iran,” the Times of Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying. “We are bound to do all we can to prevent this darkness. If possible, we will do this diplomatically. If not, we will act as a light unto the nations.”
Yesterday, in a response to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s ridiculous criticism of his approach to the issue, Netanyahu reiterated his intention to keep talking. ”In contrast to others, when I see that the vital security interests of Israeli citizens are at stake, I will not shut up,” he declared. ”It is very easy to keep quiet. It is easy to receive pats on the shoulder from the international community, to bow one’s head, but I am committed to the security of my people. I am committed to the future of my country, and in contrast to periods in the past, we have a loud and clear voice among the nations and we will make it heard in order to warn–in time–against dangers,” he added.
Olmert, speaking at an Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, had likened the ongoing criticism as tantamount to an act of war against the United States. ”We have declared war on the US. That cannot be disputed,” said Olmert, who further insisted that Israel needs to avoid anything that might be construed as a “fight” with its closest ally. And while Olmert conceded that a nuclear Iran was a threat to Israeli interests, he stressed that the Jewish State should allow the United States to take the lead in preventing that reality from occurring.
Netanyahu seemingly offered both Olmert and Obama a fig leaf in that regard. ”We always remember that the US has been, remains and always will be Israel’s greatest friend,” he said.
Yet actions speak louder than words. Israeli Defense Forces told British newspaper The Sunday Times that the Israeli leader has ordered Mossad, its international espionage agency, and Aman, its primary military intelligence organization, to search for any evidence that violates the deal signed in Geneva eight days ago. “Everyone has his own view regarding the Geneva agreement,” an Israeli intelligence source was quoted as saying. “But it is clear that if a smoking gun is produced, it will tumble like a house of cards.”
The source further noted that the Israelis will focus their attention on three aspects of clandestine activity, namely bomb designs, ballistic missile development, and secret uranium enrichment sites. “Iran would not have invested such a fortune [estimated at $200 billion] if in the end it does not produce nuclear weapons and turn Iran into a regional superpower,” insisted an unidentified Israeli official.
Undaunted, the Iranians continue to push the envelope. On Saturday, Rouhani announced that his nation will begin construction on a second nuclear power plant in the Bushehr province in southwest Iran. “The first nuclear power plant is in operation in Bushehr province, and the construction of the second one will soon kick off; development of new atomic power plants in the country will start in earnest and there will be nuclear reactors in most parts of Bushehr province,” the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported Rouhani as saying. Tehran pushed the envelope even further, identifying an additional 16 sites they consider suitable for nuclear power plants.
In the meantime, while the American left is celebrating this “historic” achievement, it is worth remembering two sobering realities. First and foremost, there is no deal. As noted last week, the Iranians contend the White House put out an inaccurate fact sheet regarding what was agreed to, and the State Department was forced to admit that the much-ballyhooed six-month interim agreement has not begun, nor is there any mechanism in place to prevent Iran from continuing to pursue its nuclear ambitions.
Second, Americans either forget or are unaware of the reality that Rouhani is a front man for the real power in Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. That would be the same Ali Khamenei who continues to refer to the United States as the “Great Satan,” and who told thousands of Iran’s Basij militiamen late in November that Israel is the “sinister, unclean, rabid dog of the region.” “The real threats to the world are evil powers including the Zionist regime and its supporters,” Khamenei said. “The Zionist regime is doomed to destruction, because this despicable regime was formed by power and imposed on the world, and nothing which is imposed will last,” he added.
The Obama administration’s reaction to Khamenei’s rhetoric? According to the Washington Post, it was “brushed off” by officials shortly before the talks in Geneva began. Peace at any price requires nothing less.
, havent been picked on by a bredator for some time now and want it to be that way.