Meir Dagan

Tens of thousands of people at a demonstration calling to replace Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister, Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, March 7, 2015. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Tens of thousands in Tel Aviv demand Netanyahu’s ouster

Ten days before Israelis head to the polls, masses turn out in anti-Netanyahu rally in Tel Aviv. Latest polls put Zionist Camp ahead of Likud but it’s still unclear who can form a coalition. Tens of thousands of Israelis attended a rally to demand a new government Saturday night in Rabin Square. Israel Police estimated…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man March 7, 2015

Former Mossad head Meir Dagan (R) with former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi (L) (Photo: Israel Defense Forces, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

‘Prisoner X’ and the security elite’s unchecked power

Recent actions taken by the heads of the army, Mossad and the internal security service (Shin Bet) reveal the Israeli security establishment’s unsupervised power, and the way it directs that power at the country’s own citizens and elected officials. These are the main details which have been made public in the affair of Ben Zygier,…

By Noam Sheizaf February 18, 2013

Formen head of Mossad, Maj. Gen (res.) Meir Dagan (photo: Cpl. Ori Shifrin, IDF Spokesperson, CC BY-NC 2.0)

What covert ops did former Mossad chief lead in Lebanon prior to 1982 invasion?

A well known method which Israeli reporters use to bypass the military censorship is to take the story to the foreign press, (at the price of losing exclusivity, but sometimes journalists just want to get the stuff out). In the New Yorker profile of former Mossad head Meir Dagan, this paragraph appears: Far from everything is known about…

By Noam Sheizaf September 5, 2012

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IAF fighter jet during an exercise [illustrative ] (photo: IDF Spokesperson / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Israeli public preps for elections: Just ‘don’t mention the war!’

Election season has begun, and the Israeli public desperately wants one thing: escapism. Last night, after the Israeli election was set for September 4, I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that I thought summed up the public mood, which the main “opposition” candidates have been and will be catering to. The T-shirt showed a comically wide-eyed, frightened John Cleese and his classic line from Fawlty Towers: “Don’t mention the…

By Larry Derfner May 3, 2012

Netanyahu and Barak: Two ‘messiahs’ playing with bombs

Ex-Shin Bet chief launches the latest attack on Netanyahu and Barak’s character, warning that they can’t be trusted to deal with Iran. What is it about these two? This is just about unprecedented in Israeli history, these public attacks on the reliability of the prime minister and defense minister by the security chiefs who served under them. On Friday, Yuval Diskin, who headed…

By Larry Derfner April 29, 2012

Günter Grass, persona non grata in Israel

Now Interior Minister Eli Yishai has declared Grass to be persona non grata while Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has accused the German author of being “willing to sacrifice the Jewish people on the altar of crazy anti-Semites for a second time, just to sell a few more books or gain recognition.” Yishai and Lieberman are the two most outspoken racists in the…

By Larry Derfner April 8, 2012

Averting doomsday: My obsession with stopping a war on Iran

Imagine: Israel is cranked up to bomb a country that likely has chemical and biological weapons to go with its missiles. Imagine: It is planning a future of one such ‘pre-emptive’ war after another. I’ve been preoccupied for several years with the prospect that Israel would bomb Iran, and what started it was something that people don’t talk about much, certainly not now that…

By Larry Derfner February 12, 2012

Security expert: Attacking Iran isn’t worth it

The public doesn’t know it, but ex-Mossad chief Meir Dagan and his opposition to war with Iran have company Retired army general Nathan Sharony, head of the Council for Peace and Security, which includes over 1,000 former high-ranking security officials with dovish views, says the positions of ex-Mossad chief Meir Dagan and ex-army intelligence head Shlomo Gazit against an attack on Iran are “acceptable” to him. Retired…

By Larry Derfner February 6, 2012

Meir Dagan (R) with Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi (Photo: Israel Defense Forces, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Terrorism double standard: Framing Mossad-CIA story

Foreign Policy’s piece about Israel’s false flag activities reminds us that Israel has been supporting terrorists for a long, long time Mark Perry’s piece in Foreign Policy detailing how Mossad agents recruited terrorists in Pakistan – members of the Jundallah organization – to carry out attacks in Iran is getting plenty of attention. Of course,…

By Yossi Gurvitz January 14, 2012

+972 People of the Year: Bloggers’ picks

One would be hard-pressed to name a dull year in the history of the Middle East, and 2011 was no exception. It shares its beginnings with a domino effect of popular protest, sparked in Tunisia, which would ultimately see the fall of regimes whose iron fists had been decades-old fixtures. Even Israelis suddenly seemed to…

By +972 Magazine December 30, 2011

Bloggingheads: Larry Derfner and Elliot Jager debate Israeli strike on Iran

Bloggingheads: Will Israel strike Iran?

In recent weeks discussion has grown about the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israeli media, politicians, and American officials have all spoken publicly about the advisability and ramifications of such a strike. Does this signal a real possibility for such an attack, or simply political posturing? Watch +972 Magazine’s Larry Derfner…

By Larry Derfner November 12, 2011

Israeli public, politicians split on Iran (with advantage to skeptics)

The lack of national consensus makes an Israeli attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities unlikely, yet the escalating threats could create a dangerous dynamic in the longer run ● Public discourse is lacking a serious debate on the consequences of the attack After months and years in which it has been kept in back rooms…

By Noam Sheizaf November 3, 2011

NoamSheizaf, NoamS

In the Bizarre US debate, head of Mossad, IDF chief, would have been “anti-Israeli”

Former head of Mossad, Meir Dagan, has called this week for the Israeli leadership to accept the Arab peace initiative. He has also ruled out an attack on Iran. According to almost every news source in Israel—from centrist Yedioth to Haaretz—Former head of Mossad coordinated his messages with former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazy and…

By Noam Sheizaf June 3, 2011