Opposition head backs ex-spy chief’s statements on Netanyahu and Barak

Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz came out in support of former Shin Beit head Yuval Diskin’s Friday attack on Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak on Sunday, telling Army Radio: “To me, Diskin’s words are a warning sign to be taken seriously.”

Diskin blasted the current government’s handling of the Iran situation, saying Netanyahu and Barak are “not fit to lead” the country and accusing them of acting on “messianic” impulses with regards to a possible attack on Iran.

Kadima head Mofaz backed Diskin’s statements, saying that he agreed with Diskin’s assertion that the current government was using the Iranian threat to distract Israeli citizens from other pressing issues. “To me, the threat that Israeli will become a bi-national state is far more serious than the Iranian nuclear issue,” he said.

“An early Israeli attack [on Iran], in a period that still has not seen a full international effort [against the nuclear program] has two dangers. The biggest is a war, and the second is an acceleration of Iran’s nuclear program,” added Mofaz, a former IDF chief of staff and defense minister.

Mofaz also said that Netanyahu could advance the peace process but has chosen not to do so.

Kadima colleague Dalia Itzik said Diskin was a man of great personal integrity, and that if he had resorted to speaking out publicly in this way, he must have felt compelled to sound the alarm.

Matan Vilnai, of the Independence Party, however, said Diskin’s public critique was inappropriate and wrong, and that the duo of Netanyahu and his own party leader Barak were the best team to face the challenge post by Iran’s nuclear drive.