Ex-Mossad director already talking of second war round
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| Efraim Halevy |
An article in the Canadian Jewish News features an interview with ex-Mossad Director Efraim Halevy (pictured).
By turns encouraging as well as dismaying, the article entitled ‘Israel Can’t be destroyed, ex-Mossad director says‘ itself puts paid to this idea of a perpetual victimhood state.
Refreshing to hear someone finally admit:
“Israel’s existence is not in question.”
“It’s impossible to destroy Israel – take it from me.”
Although more ominiously he says:
“Israel is indestructable for a variety of reasons,” he added. “Israel can’t be eradicated. Whenever Israel has identified a threat [to its existence], Israel has been able to take care of it.”
We all know what “taking care of it” amounts to …
The article continues:
Halevy, the head of the Mossad from 1998 to 2002 and its deputy director from 1990 to 1995, spoke extensively about the recent war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.“I’m not sure either side understood what it was getting into,” he said. “Both sides slipped into it by accident. It was not premeditated, and both sides made a mistake of assessment.”
Israel and Hezbollah both suffered setbacks and neither achieved its objectives, he noted, saying, “Israel has reached some kind of stalemate with Hezbollah.”
The latter seems to be commentary without spin, though his suggestion that it was accidental is contentious if not dubious given evidence Israel has been building up to and planning this war for over a year.
But, more ominously,
Halevy, who is currently director of the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies at Hebrew University, suggested that the conflict was but “the first act” in a drama that may yet lead to “a second round.”
He added, “The next time, we’ll have to do much better, and I think we will.”
Then again more encouragingly hinting at dialogue with Iran:
“If we play it right, we can find a way to talk to Iran,” he commented, pointing out that Israel has no territorial dispute with Iran.
The article finishes:
Halevy, who was born in Britain and immigrated to Israel with his family in 1948 at the age of 14, remarked that Israel’s public relations efforts have fallen far short of the mark.
In an implicit dig at Israel’s current corps of PR people, he said, “Maybe the first thing to do is to present spokespersons who speak grammatical English.”
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