Former security officials accused of preventing strike on Iran - Yoni Hersch

by Yoni Hersch

Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick accuses former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and former IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi of interfering with Israeli plans to strike Iran • Claim "insulting," says Ashkenazi • "We never disobeyed an order," says Dagan.

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and former IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York on Sunday | Photo credit: Sivan Farge

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan and former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi were accused during a panel discussion in New York on Sunday of interfering with Israel's plans to strike Iran.

Former head of the National Security Council Maj. Gen. (res.) Uzi Dayan and Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Island also participated in the panel, at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York, where one of the paper's columnists, Caroline Glick, claimed Dagan and Ashkenazi had prevented a military strike on the Islamic republic. 

Denying her claim, Dagan told her, "You were not there, you don't know what happened there." He added that they had "never disobeyed an order" from the prime minister.

Dagan further said that the conversation Glick had referenced was one in which he had told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that in order for an attack on Iran to be planned, the cabinet would need to approve the massive call-up of reservists that would be necessary. 

He added that had those legally required steps been taken, the security officials would have moved forward with the orders. What happened instead, he said, was that after presenting various strike scenarios and their consequences, Netanyahu decided against the attack.

Ashkenazi confirmed what Dagan said, reiterating that "there was never a decision [to strike Iran]." He called Glick's assertion "insulting."

Yoni Hersch

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26033

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