Criticizing Netanyahu, Barak on Iran is a luxury Israel can't afford

Haaretz ^ | May 14, 2012 | David B. Rivkin Jr.

[american_steve]

While the Israeli political scene is no stranger to strident criticisms directed at senior government officials and their policies, the recent attacks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak over their policies toward Iran are a dangerous luxury.

Numerous retired security officials who do not lack a private voice or influence within a small nation. including former Shin Bet head, Yuval Diskin, ex- Mossad chief, Meir Dagan, and Former IDF Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, have launched broadsides against the current Israeli government’s dire assessments of the Iranian threat and the best ways of dealing with it.

They were followed by a more subdued critique, proffered by the IDF’s current Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz, who opined that the Iranian threat was not all that imminent and the Iranian regime, warts and all, was a rational strategic actor. These criticisms were reinforced by more openly political attacks, which came from Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yacimovich and Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Despite some differences in style and substance, the basic arguments of all these naysayers are that Messrs. Netanyahu and Barak have greatly exaggerated the extent of the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program, downplayed the efficacy of the global diplomatic and economic pressure on Tehran and overestimated the extent to which an Israeli military strike is a viable strategic option. While the precise modalities of these Israeli contretemps over the Iranian policy are unusual, they are not unprecedented.