Yuval Diskin

Israeli tanks on the Israel-Gaza border. (photo: Activestills.org)

Israel needs a new strategy in Gaza

Ariel Sharon’s strategy in Gaza of “Divide and Rule” failed, and we are yet to see a successful military solution for the Strip. Is there anyone in the Israeli leadership with the courage and power to lead a political solution? By Lev Grinberg The Israeli government has drawn the IDF and the entire country into…

By +972 Magazine August 30, 2014

Funeral of Israeli soldier Banaya Rubel, Holon, Israel. Rubel was killed during clashes in Gaza. (photo: Activestills.org)

‘Finish the job’

This is the watchword in Israel today, no matter the price. Late last night (Monday), I was driving home from work and listening to the talk show hosted by Jojo Abutbul, who is sort of an old-time folk hero in this country – a Mizrahi Jew with down-to-earth wisdom. An Israeli common man. He speaks…

By Larry Derfner July 22, 2014

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

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Palestinian refugees 'making their way from Galilee in October-November 1948' (Fred Csasznik, copyright expired)

Pretending away the Nakba only perpetuates the conflict

When the Czechs prefer to keep silent and repress their history, it’s a problem, but it is not an imminent danger to the country. When Israelis prefer to pretend there was no ethnic cleaning here, it’s a wholly different question: the conflict won’t end unless Israel admits to the injustice it caused. A few weeks…

By Yossi Gurvitz February 12, 2013

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

Demonstration against attack on Iran, Tel Aviv, 24 March, 2012 (Photo: Dahlia Scheindlin)

Can critique of Iran strike by security figures change Israeli public opinion?

Will Diskin crack Netanyahu’s “good for security” armor? A review of public surveys on the Iran issue shows that even prior to the damning critique on Friday by Yuval Diskin, former head of the Internal Security Agency, the public already diverged sharply from the leadership’s policy: Survey after survey, as I wrote in March, showed…

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 29, 2012

Anat Kamm in court (Ido Kenan, Room 404, Creatvie Commons license)

Whistleblower of IDF crimes is smeared by Internal Security

Anat Kamm was convicted of divulging secret information – but the GSS smeared her as a dangerous spy Yesterday, a plea bargain was signed in the Anat Kamm case, and she pled guilty (Hebrew) to felonies she obviously committed: unauthorized possession of secret information and unauthorized delivery of it to unauthorized personnel. In return, the…

By Yossi Gurvitz February 7, 2011