The Passing Of Meir Dagan

Meir Dagan has just died at age 71.  He directed Israeli  Mossad from 2004 to 2011, reportedly overseeing more covert operations than any other Mossad chief.  When Ariel  Sharon appointed him he described him as "having a knife between his teeth," and later Binyamin Netanyahu described him as "having a rocket-propelled grenade between his teeth."  Former PM Ehud Barak said of him, "Israelis owe Meir Dagan a great debt of gratitude even though we cannot tell them all the reasons why." He was especially noted for covert activities directed specifically at blocking the Iranian nuclear program, including at least software bugs as well as assassinations.  In short, he was the uber hawk in practice by Israel against the Iranian nuclear program.

I am bringing him up now because he was probably the most important of the reported "senior former" military and intelligence leaders in Israel who criticized the position of Netanyahu against the Iranian nuclear deal negotiated by President Obama.  Last March, about the time that Netanyahu spoke before the US Congress and denounced the deal while running for reelection as Israeli PM, Dagan was reported as saying "Israel is a country surrounded by enemies, but the enemies do not scare me.  I am scared of our leadership."

All this is from his obituary that appeared in the Washington Post today.

Barkley Rosser