Netanyahu Is Head And Shoulders Below The Rest

[Purveyor]

By Amir Oren

The guards are against Netanyahu. No, not the members of the state VIP protection unit, whose compliance with the General Security Service Law means they only whisper about the prime minister's behavior. We mean the guards of the State of Israel, the highest-ranking members of the nation's security forces. They are united in their anxiety over Benjamin Netanyahu, his actions, his mistakes and the slope down which he is liable to take Israel.

The heads of the security branches, restrained and officious as they are, don't name names but it isn't hard to figure out who bears supreme responsibility for the difficult situation behind the dire warnings. They also punctiliously observe the principle of separation of powers, and give the political leadership its due. But the image created by the aggregation of remarks by former or about-to-be-former holders of the most sensitive positions - army chief of staff and the leaders of the Mossad, of Military Intelligence and of the Shin Bet security service - is a terrifying one of a lack of confidence in this prime minister. In stark contrast to all his predecessors, this prime minister does not have their trust.

It happened during Netanyahu's first term, too. On more than one occasion the icy countenances of the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff (Amnon Lipkin-Shahak ), the Shin Bet chief (Ami Ayalon ) and the police commissioner (Assaf Hefetz ) headed off some adventure in the territories or beyond. This time around it is the former chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi; former Mossad head Meir Dagan and the outgoing Shin Bet chief, Yuval Diskin; and, halfheartedly, also the former head of MI, Amos Yadlin, who have spoken out against him.

The issues are diverse: Iran, the stalled peace process, the neglect of Israel's Arabs and Netanyahu's role, either active or passive - in concert with Defense Minister Ehud Barak - in appointing their successors.

MORE...

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/netanyahu-is-head-and-shoulders-below-the-rest-1.360639

[defendandprotect]

1. k