Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan’s polemical take on politics, economics and foreign affairs

Netanyahu looks increasingly isolated on Iran

Iran Watch, part 8

By Mehdi Hasan Published 30 April 2012 18:12

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting. Photograph: Getty Images

Some of you may have seen Yuval Diskin's comments reported in newspapers across the world. The former head of Shin Bet - Israel's equivalent of the FBI - launched an unprecedented and astonishing attack on the integrity, honesty and judgement on Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his mini-me, the defence minister Ehud Barak, accusing them of "misleading the public on the Iran issue" and making decisions "based on messianic feelings".

I never thought I'd find myself in such agreement with a former Israeli spymaster. In fact, Diskin's scathing comments form the basis of my column in today's Guardian:

At a public meeting on Friday Diskin, former head of Shin Bet (Israel's MI5), described Netanyahu and Barak as "not fit to hold the steering wheel of power". He went on: "I have observed them from up close … They are not people who I, on a personal level, trust to lead Israel to an event on that scale and carry it off … They tell the public that if Israel acts, Iran won't have a nuclear bomb. This is misleading. Actually, many experts say that an Israeli attack would accelerate the Iranian nuclear race."

Diskin joins a long list of eminent members of the Israeli security establishment who have publicly voiced criticism of, and opposition to, their government's ultra-hawkish line on Iran. In fact, his astonishing attack on his former bosses came just 48 hours after the head of Israel's military, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, declared that the Iranian leadership had not yet made a decision to build nuclear weapons, that it was unlikely to go this "extra mile", and was composed of "very rational people". "Decisions must be made carefully out of historic responsibility but without hysteria," added Gantz in a not-too-subtle dig at his political masters.

I go on to point out that opinion polls suggest the Israeli public isn't too keen on a pre-emptive military attack on Iran by the Jewish state and argue that "Netanyahu isn't Israel":

Those of us opposed to another catastrophic conflict in the Middle East should not allow his alarmist and messianic rhetoric to drown out the voices of Israel's doves: those critics of military action, who, ironically, are far more numerous and outspoken than the doves on Capitol Hill or in Westminster, and have far better credentials.

Thankfully, Bibi does seem to be more and more isolated on the Iranian "threat". But will that actually stop him from launching air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at some stage in the coming months, as some commentators predict (and hope!)? Who knows? But on a related note, his predecessor and former Likud Party colleague Ehud Olmert told a conference of US Jews in New York on Sunday that the Israeli government shouldn't rush into unilateral military action against the Islamic Republic - and, according to the New York Times, was met with angry boos and heckles from his ultra-hawkish audience.

I guess even ex-Israeli prime ministers who have launched bloody wars against Arab nations aren't immune from the wrath of US Likudniks. But Olmert gave as good as he got:

“As a concerned Israeli citizen who lives in the state of Israel with his family and all of his children and grandchildren,” he said, “I love very much the courage of those who live 10,000 miles away from the state of Israel and are ready that we will make every possible mistake that will cost lives of Israelis.”

Nice.

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Tags: Iran Watch Iran Binyamin Netanyahu Israel

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244 comments

Thu, 2012-07-05 03:54 — qzwwgf (not verified)

scbwotw

Wed, 2012-05-30 20:05 — FenwickSamson

Kadima who have recently joined the coalition are not 'nutters but a respectable centrist party. Shaul Mofaz is far from being a nutter as the poster could easily check. But then, what more can you expect from someone who claimed that Hitler as elected as leader of Germany in 1932. And then the poster tries to wriggle out of what he said with all manner of deflection known to man. http://www.carshq.org/

Sat, 2012-05-19 07:21 — JehudahBenIsrael (not verified)

G-8 leaders unified behind dual-track Iran policy

After first session of Camp David discussions, leaders choose diplomacy combined with sanctions, urge Iran to prove its nuclear program is peaceful

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — US President Barack Obama and leaders of other major industrial powers grappled Friday with options to solidify world resolve against development of an Iranian nuclear bomb and encourage a more forceful response to worsening violence in Syria.

A senior Obama administration official said Friday night that the Group of Eight leaders unified behind a dual track effort of sanctions and diplomacy toward Iran and agreed to focus on political transition in Syria.

Most of the leaders are part of overlapping international coalitions formed to address the Iranian nuclear problem and the newer crisis in Syria, where an estimated 9,000 people have died in more than a year of violence that arose from the pro-democracy Arab uprisings.

Full story:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-syria-among-topics-for-g-8-and-nato-su...

Question: Is the Mr. Binjamin Netanjahu, Israel's prime minister, really loosing ground when the G-8 is lining up behind him...??

Sat, 2012-05-19 07:21 — JehudahBenIsrael (not verified)

G-8 leaders unified behind dual-track Iran policy

After first session of Camp David discussions, leaders choose diplomacy combined with sanctions, urge Iran to prove its nuclear program is peaceful

Full story:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-syria-among-topics-for-g-8-and-nato-su...

Question: Is the Mr. Binjamin Netanjahu, Israel's prime minister, really loosing ground when the G-8 is lining up behind him...??

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Mon, 2012-05-14 07:11 — Armin ius (not verified)

“Everybody, including Bibi [Netanyahu] and Barak, knows we don’t have
the military capabilities to sustain an attack on Iran,” an (Israeli) intelligence
source said.
“So, the hope is that the United States will enter the war,
whether by hook or crook. But if they don’t we could end up with a massive
war with a nuclear Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas without U.S. help.”
http://www.worldnewstribune.com/2012/04/30/israeli-intelligence-goes-pub...
Netanyahu (never trust a man who sounds like a sneeze) may tinker with the composition of his government (Likud cannot muster enough support to govern by itself and needs various minority nutter parties on board) but this is still to goal. Drag the USA into a war with Iran so the Goyim can do the dying to serve Israel's perceived strategic interests.

Tue, 2012-05-15 03:26 — Coleridge (not verified)

hey Arminius porked any foxy corpses lately?

Tue, 2012-05-15 07:08 — Armin ius (not verified)

Sorry, I don't really fancy your wife.

Wed, 2012-05-16 18:59 — Coleridge (not verified)

Armi my little inbred friend. She is of no use to you. She's neither Moslem nor dead. Its your deranged Islamist loons in Egypt and Morrocco that want to legalize the right of moslem men to have sex with their dead wives. Love to hear your justification for this?

Wed, 2012-05-16 21:39 — Armin ius. (not verified)

Likely she also comes with a puncture repair kit. I don't do requests from loonies who think I am a Moslem living in a cave in Afghanistan.

Thu, 2012-05-17 07:16 — Coleridge (not verified)

sorry Arminius it's a cave in apartheid Pakistan is it.

Thu, 2012-05-17 13:06 — Armin ius. (not verified)

How do I get to Pakistan from Scotland? South west then turn left at apartheid Israel? I don't much like that route so I think I will stay put.

Thu, 2012-05-17 19:25 — JJJ (not verified)

If you turn left at Israel you'll get to Lebanon, or Syria. Not Pakistan.
You are not very good at navigation are you?
Say 'hello' to your mates from Hizbullah while you are there.

Fri, 2012-05-18 00:13 — Armin ius (not verified)

Well, apart from the Falklands, have never been out of Europe and ny satnav covers me for that. Much like Zionist dross, I wouldn't say hello to someone from Hezbollah on a lonely day.

Mon, 2012-05-14 08:20 — JJJ (not verified)

Another neo-Nazi showing his ignorance of Israeli politics: Kadima who have recently joined the coalition are not 'nutters but a respectable centrist party. Shaul Mofaz is farfrom being a nutter as the poster could easily check. But then, what more can you expect frm someone who claimed that Hitler as elected as leader of Germany in 1932. And then the poster tries to wriggle out of what he said with all manner of deflection known to man.

And the 'Drag the USA into a war' is typical shitbabble from someone who always, but always, adds 2 and 2 and comes up with 5. There are very good reasons why the US would want to forcibly prevent Iran from achieving its nuclear bombs (if Iran didn't have one already), and they have been asserted publicly. But the poster takes some quote from an anonymous source from some flaky website. and the fact that Israel may wish for the US to assist it means that, voila, the US are 'Dragged' into a war.

But only in the diseased mind of someone obsessed with the Jooooos can these thoughts germinate and this is what passes for logic among the haters.

But then, never trust a man claiming to be a Scot but whose hatred for the Soviet Union led him to assert on these boards that the British were fighting the wrong enemy in WW2. So, never trust schmutz.

Mon, 2012-05-14 12:53 — Armin ius. (not verified)

On cue the Zionazi takes the bait. Squeezing as much tinfoil hat paranoid bile and cliches into one post as possible. Didn't you make a note in your little black book that I thought Hitler as well as Netanyahu and you) was scum? Not many neo-Nazis do that I would imagine.
Iran might already have a nuclear bomb......pass the bacofoil someone....

Mon, 2012-05-14 16:11 — JJJ (not verified)

Interesting to see someone professing to be in Scotland claiming that any suggestion that Iran might be in possession of a nuclear bomb is conspiracy theory. It sounds more likely that you are in Ahmadinejad's inner circle if you know for sure that Iran does not possess a bomb.

Mon, 2012-05-14 18:16 — Armin ius (not verified)

There is no evidence that Iran currently has any nuclear weapons and it has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in stark contrast to Israel. Even the pub quiz team at the Woodhall Arms knows that (The Woodhall Arms being a pub in Edinburgh, Scotland where no Iranians have been known to tread, not even in the Lounge Bar). Keep smoking those tea bags.

Mon, 2012-05-14 20:37 — JJJ (not verified)

So signing the NPT gets the criminal Iranian regime off the hook. I can't really be bothered anymore with this interminable slagging match but this will suffice:
'In November 2003 IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei reported that Iran had repeatedly and over an extended period failed to meet its safeguards obligations, including by failing to declare its uranium enrichment program' etc. etc.

So some worth the NPT has. And in any case, the double standards would only be used against Israel with more force.

I prefer my tea in a cup. 1 sugar, no milk. And with a nice bacon sandwich.

Mon, 2012-05-14 21:58 — Armin ius (not verified)

"The Non-Aligned Movement has welcomed the continuing cooperation of Iran with the IAEA and reaffirmed Iran's right to the peaceful uses of nuclear technology. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the continued dialogue between Iran and the IAEA, and has called for a peaceful resolution to the issue" - Look, I cut cut and paste selective quotes from Wikipedia too. Israel has not signed the NPT as it does not want anyone to know how many nuclear warheads it has and more specifically where their targets are. The NPT's worth is diminished mainly by the rogue states who will not sign it.
Bacon sandwiches are bad for you...have another.

Mon, 2012-05-14 20:44 — JJJ (not verified)

In addition, Syria is also a signatory to the NPT and was up to no good in the installation bombed by the Israelis, under Olmert. No less.

The pub quiz night must be a hoot with you present.

Mon, 2012-05-14 22:33 — Armin ius (not verified)

Israel is up to no good at Dimona and has been for years. They can have no complaint if it is attacked without warning no?
Olmert? That's the crooked one that got caught right?

Sun, 2012-05-13 07:51 — JJJ (not verified)

Mehdi Hasan, in the name of balance which he so sorely lacks, should publish what the former head of Israeli Military Intelligence has been saying for the past week.

Only yesterday Maj.Gen. (Reserve) Amos Yadlin criticized Diskin and Olmert saying that to remove the military option from the table was the height of irresponsibility because it would encourage the Iranians to defeat the sanctions thus leaving the military option as the only solution.

Yadlin also said earlier that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities was less risky than allowing Iran to develop a bomb.

So, would anyone like to guess why Mehdi Hasan will not publish Yadlin's views and instead leave the reader with the impression that Netanyahu and Barak are completely isolated on the question?

Sat, 2012-05-12 19:26 — Armin ius (not verified)

As if on cue the scum resurface to confirm Lond's point. Some of the posts here would make even the most bigoted, paranoid EDL bonehead blush. Kosher fascists.

Sat, 2012-05-12 14:52 — jankaas (not verified)

closed?

Sat, 2012-05-12 18:55 — JJJ (not verified)

Yes, like Arminius's mind.

Sat, 2012-05-12 22:11 — jankaas (not verified)

no thanks JJJ, like i said; "i just can't be arsed any further with you. hope you have a lovely time trading insults with Arminius and encouraging Coleridge to be as obnoxious as possible. bye bye."

you make a lovely alliance.

Sat, 2012-05-12 12:20 — Coleridge (not verified)

Isn't it regrettable that no debate on the ME can take place without Jew-hating, islamofascists like Arminius (aka Mehdi "non-Moslems live like animals" Hasan) Jackass, marielle, Stuart Eels et weighing in with their bigoted anti-Jew agenda. TheNS really ought to filter the comment thread and encourage anti-Jew Islamists to move onto the MPAC site where they belong. But silly me. I forgot. The NS is no longer a left wink site it's run by Mehdi Hasan a pathologically anti-Israel islamofascist Iran-supporting, women-stoning-supporting bigot who would like to see Big Ben replaced by a Muslim crescent.

Fri, 2012-05-11 00:19 — Lond (not verified)

How sad that some people on this forum are so shallow they simply cannot lead a civilised debate. Coleridge, JJJ and Elizabeth are the worst offenders.

Fri, 2012-05-11 19:39 — JJJ (not verified)

Strange that posts are being allowed when it says that the thread is now closed for comments.

Fri, 2012-05-11 08:24 — Julia Harris

Elizabeth is definitely the worst.

Thu, 2012-05-10 21:13 — Julia Harris

Can I remind everyone that Jackass is an Idiot.

Any kind of embarking into his mixed up world, his wannabee intellectual points that 'don't add up or make sense' is delving into the depths of a futile and desperately sad little person that will only leave you with the feeling of ' Why the f*ck did I bother and What the f*ck is the moron talking about'

Its one thing to have a contrary opinion, but unraveling spaghetti is not my idea of progress.

Sun, 2012-05-13 03:27 — Go GG (not verified)

Can I remind everyone that looney Julia is an all time oscar winning idiot. Just what the fcuk are you on about you zionist, racist piece of sh*t. Your taste in choosing your user-photo shows just how derranged and pathetic you are. How can you possibly enjoy life busy hating everyone and being a moron? You (and your fellow zionist murderers) are embarrasement to humanity.

Fri, 2012-05-11 17:23 — jankaas (not verified)

lol, you posted the same dreary whinge twice when once was too many.

and as ever rather than destroy my argument, which someone as brilliant as you surely should be able to, you resort to name calling. this speaks volumes about you dear. but then this is what happens when cognitive dissonance strikes.
your tiny mind explodes when you force it to entertain these 2 concepts at the same time;
1) anyone who, as i have, argues against Israeli foreign policy is an anti-semite and islamofascist
2) Diskin and Olmert argue against Israeli foreign policy the same way i do, but you think of them as good Jewish Israelis.

and BANG goes your little brain......poor love.

Thu, 2012-05-10 21:12 — Julia Harris

Can I remind everyone that Jackass is an Idiot.

Any kind of embarking into his mixed up world, his wannabee intellectual points that 'don't add up or make sense' is delving into the depths of a futile and desperatley sad little person that will only leave you with the feeling of ' Why the f*uck did I bother and What the f*uck is the moron talking about'

Its one thing to have a contrary opinion, but unraveling spaghetti is not my idea of progress.

Mon, 2012-05-07 19:12 — snickid (not verified)

Netanyahu is using the supposed Iranian threat to try and sucker the United States into a war against Iran, in order to draw attention way from Israel's ceaseless dispossession and degradation of the Palestinians.

Not my view, but that of numerous experts, including Prof. Fawaz Gerges, Director the LSE Middle East Centre:
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-274788-turkey-sole-example-for-region-ir...

All sane people need to make sure that Britain does not involve itself in a third mad war in the Middle East / W. Asia in twelve years. I urge everyone to write to their MP and MEPs asking them to commit themselves to oppose any British involvement in the forthcoming US/Israeli-Iranian conflict.

Mon, 2012-05-07 13:04 — jankaas (not verified)

well there goes yet another thread, killed by the usual failure of the more aggressive and opinionated posters failing to stay on topic. as ever the most simple questions are evaded and ignored;
1) are Olmert and Diskin correct in their criticism of Netanyahu?
2) why are posters called Islamofascists and Anti-Semitic when they have previously posted identical views to those of Olmert and Diskin?

you know who you are and you are cowards.

Tue, 2012-05-08 22:18 — Coleridge (not verified)

Hey Jackass Ehud Olmert led democratic Israel in its fight against islamofascist terror in Hamas occupied Gaza in 2009. I take it you supported Operation Cast Lead? Diskin successfully defended democratic Israel against Islamofascist terror attacks against its civilian population by your co-religionist, islamist, pedo, necrophiliac friends. I take it you admire him as much as I do.
If you don't - well then you are an islamofascist anti-Semitic scumbag.

Mon, 2012-05-07 19:59 — JJJ (not verified)

Yup, there goes another thread killed by those that don't read answers and only want to see their name up their on the board. Why don't you read my response and see that I answer your question 1:

1. How on earth are posters here supposed to know whether Olmert and Diskin are correct in their criticism of Netanyahu. Do you think New Statesmen readers are privy to the real information? It is so transparent that you want the answer 'yes' to your question. So, you are obviously somone who is privy to all the information and I'm sure you know better than everyone else who is right.

I for one do not know who is right. What I do believe is that the fact that these people have gone public with their criticism does indeed give pause for thought, Does that answer your question?

Mon, 2012-05-07 22:13 — jankaas (not verified)

thanks for having a go at question 1.
of course i would like a 'yes', doesn't mean i can't deal with a 'no'. and i am glad you also see this as a reason to pause for thought. i think it quite seismic, and part of a pattern of backing off from the most extreme options available. work in progress i do hope.

now onto question 2 if that's ok. do you think it fair that ordinary people like myself are labelled Islamofascists by some whenever i express the exact same POV that Diskin and Olmert have voiced about Netanyahu?

Tue, 2012-05-08 09:12 — JJJ (not verified)

If it's ok with you then I would like to refer you to my post of May 5th at 20:18 where I had already answered your first question.

What is 'seismic'? My view or Olmert and Diskin's views? 'Work in progress'? What does that mean? I had already said, after Dagan spoke out, that this gives pause for thought.

When you retract your assertion that Omert and Diskin have claimed that Netanyahu is a danger to the whole world, then we can make progress.

And one other thing, on the Ron Paul thread you appear a bit ambiguous about him. It's not just his economic ideas or his views on State vs. Federal, it's the fact that racist newsletters came out under his name (and he has tried to wriggle his way out of this) and that he wuldn't have passed the Civil Rights Act. Perhaps some food for thought for a Ductch anti-racist?

Tue, 2012-05-08 12:35 — jankaas (not verified)

i am beginning to lose the will here JJJ. how on earth can i retract my opinion when i think it an accurate interpretation of what Olmert and Diskin say? i believe that acts of aggression of the type Netanyahu entertains are a danger to the world. Olmert and Diskin also think that Netanyahu is on the wrong course.

as for 'seismic', i mean this open criticism of Netanyahu idea of how to protect Israel by such eminent figures is not business as usual as far as i'm aware.

i also asked you to deal with my 2nd question, not the 1st, so far no answer?

as for polluting this thread with the Ron Paul one is bizarre. go post to me there rather than randomly flinging mud at the wall.

Tue, 2012-05-08 15:51 — JJJ (not verified)

So now you are saying that it is your 'interpretation' of what Diskin and Olmert had said. You gave the impression that you were quoting them directly.

However, could you please elaborate as to how you came to that interpretation, since nothing they said can be interpreted in that manner.

Moreover, events have now overtaken this debate. The former Chief of Intelligence Amos Yadlin has said publicly that not attacking Iran is a greater risk than letting Iran have the bomb. In addition, the joining of a former chief of staff, Shaul Mofaz who is of Iranian background to the government today means that again no one knows what is going to happen.

Tue, 2012-05-08 17:00 — jankaas (not verified)

i didn't use quotation marks so the error is yours JJJ. same as you i post my opinion, and i have already gone through the trouble earlier today to explain my reasoning. so do go read that rather than ask me to repeat myself.

you then make the proclamation that the words from this Yadlin person cancels out the words of Olmert and Diskin. in other words; you decide what counts, you decide what is relevant, you decide who is right and who is wrong.

add to that you total failure to answer my ancient question 2, despite politiely askeing several times, and it is patently clear that trying to discuss anything with you an utter waste of pixels.

i just can't be arsed any further with you. hope you have a lovely time trading insults with Arminius and encouraging Coleridge to be as obnoxious as possible. bye bye.

Tue, 2012-05-08 09:15 — JJJ (not verified)

typos: 'Dutch', 'wouldn't'

Mon, 2012-05-07 15:14 — Armin ius. (not verified)

You are surprised?

Mon, 2012-05-07 15:52 — jankaas (not verified)

surprised, no.
dissappointed, yes.
so it goes...