Free Republic

Israeli top spy, Meir Dagan, is stepping down. According to local TV station Channel 2, Dagan, who was appointed as head of Mossad in 2002, requested to continue another year in the role, but was refused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sources tell Fox News that the main reason for Netanyahu’s decision is the international criticism following the January assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, which was widely believed to be carried out by Mossad agents using forged foreign passports. Israel never responded to the allegations made by Dubai Police regarding the case. According to the report, Dagan...

The brazen assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh has thrown the spotlight on one of Israel’s most powerful but shadowy figures, Meir Dagan, the current Mossad chief, who yesterday faced calls for his resignation. There is a piece of folklore often repeated about him: when he was appointed in 2002, Ariel Sharon, then the Prime Minister, ordered him to run the Israeli spy agency “with a knife between its teeth”. Eight years on, Mr Dagan appears to have followed his orders to the letter. The killing in Dubai of one of the top men in Hamas is only the most recent in...