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Israeli Mossad Chief Says: Nuclear Iran Not an Existential Threat, More Concerned with European & World Economic Crisis
30 December 2011
The head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency reportedly told a audience of Israeli diplomats that a nuclear Iran was not necessarily an existential threat to Israel. This view contrasts with that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who never ceases to compare a nuclear Iran to condemning all of Israel to become one big concentration camp. According to today’s Ha’aretz , current Mossad chief Tamir Pardo made these comments in a closed forum of 100 Israeli ambassadors Dec. 27. According to Ha’aretz’s diplomatic sources, Pardo said that Israel was using various means to undermine Iran’s nuclear program, but questioned the use of the term "existential threat" if Iran were to become nuclear power. "What is the significance of the term existential threat?" Pardo reportedly asked. "Does Iran pose a threat to Israel? Absolutely. But if one said a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands was an existential threat, that would mean that we would have to close up shop and go home. That’s not the situation. The term existential threat is used too freely." Pardo did not comment on the possibility of an Israeli military strike against Iran. Pardo apparently saw the European and world economic crisis as a more serious immediate threat. While devoting five minutes in his presentation to the Iranian threat, Pardo spent no less than 20 minutes on threats to the Israeli economy. There is reportedly an all-out brawl withing the Israeli military-security establishment over plans by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Netanyahu to launch a preemptive attack against Iran. Pardo predecessor Meir Dagan has been taking the point against Barak and Netanyahu, and last month said Israel should only resort to military force "when the knife is at its throat and begins to cut into the flesh," and said their drive for a war could drag Israel and the entire region into a major war that would be disastrous. |
