According to a Ben Caspit column in Ma’ariv (Hebrew), for the past two years there has been a growing power struggle involving the Israeli leadership team of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Ehud Barak, against many officials past and present who are in the highest echelons of the defense establishment. That struggle is apparently quickly becoming a real challenge to the Netanyahu government.
The battle focuses upon the Netanyahu/Barak desire to launch a military attack against Iran, which the dissidents regard as reckless and irresponsible. In addition, there appears to be more general dissatisfaction with the Bibi and Barak duo, both of whom are known as extremely difficult personalities.
Ex-Mossad head, Meir Dagan, has recently been the most publicly vocal opponent of the current Israeli leadership and its push for military action against Teheran. However, his discontent is just the tip of the iceberg. It has been reported that many power players support Dagan’s views, including the recently retired head of the military, Gabi Askenazi and his present replacement, Benny Gantz.
The level of vituperative discourse and personal attacks which characterizes the current debate have been highly unusual even for the freewheeling and sometimes bizarre Israeli political scene. “There is something not right about him,” is how Dagan described Netanyahu, according to a high level official quoted in Ma’ariv.
Surprisingly, Ben Caspit claims that the dissidents blame Barak and see Netanyahu as a weakling under the spell of his defense minister. What a shocker!!! Did anyone see Netanyahu’s performance in Washington recently? He didn’t look weak to me.
In the following excerpt from Ben Caspit’s report he describes the bitterness of the words and feelings of the dissidents.
Their (Dagan and the other dissidents) shared fear is Barak. In Netanyahu they see a naïve captive, a weakling and a lightweight mind that has become a rubber stamp for the Defense Minister. The words that Dagan uses, that others use, in regard to the present danger that comes from the double leadership, Barak and Netanyahu; they are the most bitter and sharp words that are in the dictionary. Most of them are not suitable for print [translation mine].
Who knows what to make of all this? Dagan has always been known as an Arab hater who is a Jewish Rambo. Maybe he has a soft spot for Persians. I am just kidding. Dagan has headed all manner of covert operations against Iran which include assassinating scientists, computer viruses which attack Iranian nuclear facilities, sabotage and promoting regime change. Still none of these misadventures have caused a regional war which a military attack probably would.
All of the dissidents, of course, have always supported the occupation and have contributed greatly to its horrors. Also, Dagan’s recent embrace of the Saudi Initiative smells bad to me. And plans for attacking Iran have been on the Israeli agenda in a very public way for at least 15 years. In the summer of 2008, the U.S. red- lighted the Olmert government, which was intent on military action against Iranian nuclear installations. Why didn’t Dagan or the others speak out then?
Still, in reading the reports in the Israeli press today, I am convinced that there is a serious campaign to remove Barak and Netanyahu from power. It is coming from the defense establishment, which has a lot of power in Israel. The leaders seem to have sympathizers in the press.
My question is: would a government led by the dissidents be any better? My answer is that for the Palestinians, no. However, if it could prevent the regional war which an Israeli or American military action against Iran would produce, then my answer is definitely yes.
