Senior Israeli officials often say that “all options are on the table” in respect to Iran’s nuclear program, yet former Mossad Director Meir Dagan presented a different thesis Friday.
While Israel must not accept nuclear weapons in Iran’s hands, he said, “An aerial strike on the reactors is a dumb idea that has no benefit.”
Dagan made the comments during a forum discussion at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.
“Those who strike in Iran must realize that they may prompt a regional war, where missiles will be fired by Iran and by Hezbollah from Lebanon as well,” the former Mossad chief said. “The Iranian problem must be shaped as an international problem, and efforts to delay Iran’s nuclear program should continue.”
Addressing the recent unrest throughout the Arab world, the former Mossad chief said that “there is no tsunami of change in the Middle East.” Recent developments merely reflect historic rifts within Arab societies, he said.
Turning his attention to developments in Syria, Dagan said that President Bashar Assad and Syria’s Alawite elite will be fighting to the end because they have no other alternative. “It’s either wining or dying, and they understand it,” he said.
As to Egypt, Dagan estimated that there was no chance of the Islamic Brotherhood taking power, predicting that the country’s ruling elite will continue to govern Israel’s southern neighbor.
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3 Responses
There is no way Israel could strike Iran now due to the Southern border Israel has to be concerned about, due to Obama and crew.
No. 1: The unrest in Egypt – what you call Israel’s southern border – has little to do with President Obama or the US, and much to do with the unhappiness of young Egyptians with the 30-year dictatorship of their country and the related stagnation of the Egyptian economy. So far, at least, the Egyptian revolution is going well – for Egypt and for its neighbor Israel. I don’t know how it will end, and I am concerned with how it will end, but for now it is going well. What, if anything, would you like to see (or would like to have seen) President Obama do differently?
#2 You know I do not respond to your comments, so there is no point in responding to mine.