"For eight years...[Meir] Dagan led the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, comparable to the British MI6... A protege of Ariel Sharon, he was considered a champion of the most aggressive policies. And here, after leaving office, he speaks out in the harshest terms against the government's plans for an attack on Iran's nuclear installations. Not mincing words, he said: "This is the stupidest idea I have heard in my life."

This week he was overshadowed by the recently relieved chief of the Shin Bet.... [which] is equivalent to the British MI5, but deals mostly with the Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories. For six years, Yuval Diskin was the silent chief of the silent service... And now he has spoken out... According to Diskin - and who would know better? - Israel is now led by two incompetent politicians with messianic delusions and a poor grasp of reality. Their plan to attack Iran is leading to a world-wide catastrophe. Not only will it fail to prevent the production of an Iranian atom bomb, but, on the contrary, it will hasten this effort, this time with the support of the world community.

Going further than Dagan, he stated that the only factor preventing peace negotiations with the Palestinians is Netanyahu himself. Israel can make peace with Mahmoud Abbas at any time, and missing this historic opportunity will bring disaster upon Israel. As chief of the Shin Bet, Diskin was the No. 1 official government expert on Palestinians. His agency receives and collates all the evidence, spy reports, interrogation results and information gathered from listening devices.

Leaving no room for doubt, Diskin said that he knew Netanyahu and Barak from close up, did not trust them and thought they were unfit to lead the nation in a crisis. He also said that they are deliberately deceiving the people... One after another [former officials] were quoted by the media as agreeing with the two in substance... Not a single one questioned their assertions or denied what they said... Suddenly there was a united front of experienced security leaders against a war with Iran."

-- Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom