Israeli Intelligence Experts in Open Revolt Against Netanyahu's Plan for Israel to Attack Iran

Former Mossad Head Launches Blistering Verbal Attack on Israeli PM

In a previous post, I noted how Benny Gantz. the Chief of Staff of the IDF - the Israeli Defense Forces - stated openly that he did not believe Iran was at this point planning to develop nuclear weapons.  In addition to Gantz, now Foreign Policy Magazine has an article on how the former heads of Israel's spy agencies, the Mossad and Shin Bet, have also come out and openly stated that they believe it would be a big mistake for Israel to attack Iran.  It stared with Meir Dagan, former head of Israel's foreign spy agency the Mossad calling an attack on Iran "the most foolish thing I've ever heard" in an interview with the noted US news program 60 minutes; then Yuval Diskin who is the former head of Israel's domestic security agency, the Shin Bet, chimed in calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense ministry head Ehud Barak "messianic" while questioning their judgement and fitness.  The Foreign Policy piece has an interesting perspective on the former spies' attacks on Netanyahu:

"One's view of the Dagan-Diskin critiques therefore depends on one's assessment of Netanyahu and Barak. If Diskin is correct about the leaders' lack of judgment, the former spy chiefs are breaking their silence to stave off a grave danger. But if Diskin is wrong, the former spy chiefs' words hold serious consequences for Israeli strategy -- by undermining the credibility of the threat of military action."

Both Dagan and Diskin clearly believe in the most heartfelt fashion that an Israeli attack on Iran would be disastrous, and it may well be.  In one of our first posts, we noted 10 reasons why an Israeli attack on Iran would be bad for the Israelis.  This earlier post was based on - in my opinion - some innovative outside the box analysis by CNN writer Juan Cole, and for those interested in a different perspective I would say that this is an excellent read.

Here is the full article from the current Foreign Policy Magazine entitled Israel's Spy Revolt.