PRESS RELEASE

Ex-Head of Shin Beth Diskin Denounces Gaza War and Blames Netanyahu/Rightwing ‘Illusions’ of Invincibility

July 13, 2014 (EIRNS)—Yuval Diskin, former head of the Israeli Shin Beth, posted an open letter (in Hebrew) on his Facebook page blaming Netanyahu’s “current government” for the security threat to Israel and the danger of a full outbreak of war. The letter has been translated and published by J.J. Goldberg, Editor-at-large of the American Jewish paper, Forward. The opening is provided here, and the full text can be read online at http://blogs.forward.com /jj-goldberg /201468/ex-shin-bet-chief-israeli-illusions- fueled-blowup/:

“Dear friends: Take a few moments to read the following words and share them with others. I see the severe and rapid deterioration of the security situation in the territories, Jerusalem and the Triangle and I’m not surprised. Don’t be confused for a moment. This is the result of the policy conducted by the current government, whose essence is: Let’s frighten the public over everything that’s happening around us in the Middle East, let’s prove that there’s no Palestinian partner, let’s build more and more settlements and create a reality that can’t be changed, let’s continue not dealing with the severe problems of the Arab sector in Israel, let’s continue not solving the severe social gaps in Israeli society. This illusion worked wonderfully as long as the security establishment was able to provide impressive calm on the security front over the last few years as a result of the high-quality, dedicated work of the people of the Shin Bet, the IDF and the Israel Police as well as the Palestinians whose significant contribution to the relative calm in the West Bank should not be taken lightly.

“However, the rapid deterioration we’re experiencing in the security situation did not come because of the vile murder of Naftali, Eyal and Gil-Ad, may their memories be blessed. The deterioration is first and foremost a result of the illusion that the government’s inaction on every front can actually freeze the situation in place, the illusion that ‘price tag’ is simply a few slogans on the wall and not pure racism, the illusion that everything can be solved with a little more force, the illusion that the Palestinians will accept everything that’s done in the West Bank and won’t respond despite the rage and frustration and the worsening economic situation, the illusion that the international community won’t impose sanctions on us....”

After starkly describing how dangerous and "combustible" the situation inside Israel is, Diskin concludes his letter with excerpts from his December 2013 speech to the 10th anniversary meeting of the pro-peace Geneva Initiative.