Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 25, 2010 Page: 4 of 28
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4 I February 25,2010
NEWS ANALYSIS
texas jewish post & since 1947
Mossad chief seen as indispensable on Iran
By Leslie Susser
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel has not
claimed responsibility for the assas-
sination in Dubai of top Hamas arms
smuggler Mahmoud Mabhouh, but
the killing is raising questions about
whether it will compromise Israel's
effort to stop Iran from obtaining the
bomb.
That's because one of the key fig-
ures behind the effort, Mossad chief
Meir Dagan, is coming under heavy
criticism for the sloppy operation in
Dubai.
Operating under the assumption
that Israel was behind the Dubai hit,
some Israeli analysts are calling for
Dagan's ouster. They say the Mossad
has adopted an irresponsible, trigger-
happy approach to fighting terror-
ism, and they point to the diplomatic
imbroglio facing Israel for the use of
fake British and Irish passports by
members of the hit squad, who trav-
eled under the names of European
citizen s now living in Israel.
Dagan's tenure at the Mossad is up
for renewal at the end of the year.
Defenders of Dagan point to the
long list of Mossad achievements in
the war on terrorism and the cam-
paign against Iran's nuclear pro-
gram, and argue that his tenure at
the intelligen ce agency should be ex-
tended for an unprecedented fourth
time. They insist that his knowledge
of the Iranian theater is unmatched,
and that as the clock reaches zero
hour on the Iranian nuclear threat,
his input will be invaluable — and
not only for Israel.
Under Dagan, the Mossad has had
just two priorities: delaying Iran's nu-
clear program and counter-terrorism.
"The list must be short. If we con-
tinue pretending we can do every-
thing, in the end we won't do any-
thing," Dagan was quoted as saying
when he was appointed by then-Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon in 2002.
Sharon reportedly told Dagan
to run the agency "with a knife be-
tween its teeth."
The main focus of his tenu re has
been Iran. Soon after Dagan took
over the Mossad, the agency report-
Photo: Olivier
Fitoussi / Flash90
Mossad chief
Meir Dagan,
shown at a Knes-
set committee
meeting two
years ago, has
earned plaudits
for his actions on
Iran but criticism
for his tactics
countering ter-
rorism.
edly passed on information to the
United States and others that the
rogue Pakistani nuclear dealer Ab~
del Qadir Khan was helping the Ira-
nians build a uranium enrichment
facility at Natanz.
Since then, a string of unex-
plained accidents has afflicted the
Iranian nuclear project: Scientists
have disappeared, laboratories have
caught fire, aircraft have crashed
and whole batches of equipment
have proved faulty.
In 2007, Israeli intelligence de-
tected work on a secret nuclear pro-
gram in Syria, and in September of
that year Israeli planes bombed the
site of a North Korea-style reactor
the Syrians were building.
The Mossad also was credited for
the discovery of a hidden Iranian en-
richment plant near the holy city of
Qom last September — a find that
finally convinced even previously
skeptical international observers that
Iran indeed was conducting a clan-
destine nuclear weapons program.
Although the Mossad has not
claimed credit for any of this, region-
al players have little doubt as to who
has been behind the killings, the ac-
cidents and the pinpoint intelligence.
Egypt's Al-Ahram daily ran an
article in mid-January calling Da-
gan Israel's Superman and claiming
that he almost singlehandedly has
delayed the Iranian bomb.
"Without this man, the Iranian
nuclear program would have taken
off years ago," the newspaper's for-
mer Gaza correspondent Ashraf
Abu al-Haul wrote. In a moment of
rare praise for an Israeli in the Egyp-
tian press, he called Dagan's actions
against Israel's enemies "very brave."
Now, as the international com-
munity dithers over new sanctions
against Iran and the Iranians move
closer to nuclear weapons capacity,
Dagan's read ing of the situation will
be crucial. He recently revised back-
ward his estimate of when Iran will
be able to manufacture a bomb it
can deliver to 2014.
Still, there are fears in the interna-
tional community that Israel may act
to stop the Iranian program before it
reaches its "breakout point" —when
Iran will have stockpiled enough
highly enriched uranium to manu-
facture a bomb if it so chooses. That
could come by the end of this year.
For now, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu says he favors
giving sanctions a chance as long as
they are tough — not allowing oil
out of Iran or oil distillates like pe-
troleum into the country.
"If one is talking about what are
effective sanctions, they must in-
clude the constriction of the export
of oil from Iran and the import of
refined oil into Iran," Netanyahu
said Monday in a speech to the Jew-
ish Agency for Israel's board of gov-
ernors meeting. "I think that noth-
ing else stands a real chance to stop
the progress of the regime, but this
has a chance. At least it must be tried
and must be tried now."
Few criticize Dagan's actions on
Iran, but some question his derring-
do tactics on terrorism as reflected in
the Dubai operation. They argue that
his risk taking could cost Israel diplo-
matically and provoke heavy terrorist
retaliation. His critics also contend
that taking out top terrorists is a dubi-
ous proposition: Often their replace-
ments are even more dangerou s.
Dagan's eight years at the helm
have seen several targeted killings of
top Hezbollah and Hamas operatives
in Beirut and Damascus attributed
to the Mossad — the most notable of
which was the assassination of Hez-
bollah terrorist mastermind Imad
Mugniyeh in a car bombing in Da-
mascus in February 2008. Mugniyeh,
who reportedly planned the attack on
the U.S. Marines compound in Bei-
rut in 1983, had been on the wanted
lists of Israel and the United States for
more than two decades.
Late last year the Mossad, although
it never acknowledged any involve-
ment, seemed to step up its activities.
In early December, a bus carry-
ing Hamas members and Iranian
officials exploded outside Damas-
cus. Two weeks later, two Hamas
members were killed in a mysterious
bombing in the heart of Hezbollah's
Dahiya stronghold in southern Bei-
rut. Last month, an Iranian nuclear
scientist died in a bombing outside
his home in Tehran. A week later,
Mabhouh was found dead in his
Dubai hotel room.
Dagan also has pulled off some
major intelligence coups in the war
on terror, enabling Israeli forces to in-
tercept weapons destined for Hamas
and Hezbollah as far afield as Sudan
and on the high seas near Cyprus.
In mid-January 2009, a convoy
carrying weapons for Hamas during
Operation Cast Lead reportedly was
bombed by Israel Air Force planes in
Sudan. In November, the Francop, an
Antigua-flagged vessel carrying more
than 100 tons of rockets, mortars and
anti-tank weapons for Hezbollah, was
captured by the Israeli navy.
Dagan's advice on Iran over the
coming months will carry consider-
able weight. He seems to think there is
still time for actions other than a full-
scale military operation.
If and when it comes to that, how-
ever, chances are that despite the Dubai
incident, Netanyahu, one of Dagan's
staunchest admirers, will want Dagan
at his side helping to plan it.
BODOFF
continued from p.2
He believes the foundation will
continue to grow for many years.
"Are these times difficult? Yes, but
even in difficult times, people are still
doing estate planning, and are con-
cerned about the world their grand-
children are going to live in," he said.
"In the end, I look at the generosity of
spirit and action. All I need to do is
take five minutes to look at that, and
it recharges my batteries immediate-
ly. I've seen acts of tzedakah done ev-
ery day. There is always someone out
there whose action becomes example
and that inspires people."
Bodoff said he was initially at-
tracted to this position because he
wanted to learn more about Dallas
and knew this was the next step in
his life after working in JCCs and
Federations. He believes his past ex-
perience will allow him to make an
impact.
He looks forward to continuing
the mission of the DJCF for years
to come, thereby strengthening the
Dallas Jewish community.
"I love guaranteeing the future
for the Jewish community and pro-
tecting the future for the state of
Israel. I get to do both of those in
this job," he said. "I'm fortunate to
be able to do what I'm passionate
about with an organization that's
making a difference. I am thrilled to
be part of this. The DJCF will take a
tremendous leap forward in the next
few years and that translates to a tre-
mendous leap forward for the entire
Jewish community. When we're suc-
cessful, so is the community. There
will be the financial resources for
future generations to have the day
school experience, Jewish camp-
ing and synagogues. When you can
look someone in the face and tell
them that there is a future, I don't
know anything more important."
TUP
TEXAS JEWISH P0ST$S!NCE 1947
Jimmy Wisch
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Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 25, 2010, newspaper, February 25, 2010; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth188281/m1/4/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .