TEL AVIV // Israel's leaders are misleading the public on Tehran's nuclear ambitions and cannot be trusted on the Iran issue, the former head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency said at the weekend.
Yuval Diskin said the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Ehud Barak were making decisions on Iran based on "messianic feelings" rather than concrete intelligence, and he had no faith in them.
"Believe me, I have observed them from up close … they are not people who I, on a personal level, trust to lead Israel to an event on that scale and carry it off," said Mr Diskin.
He said Mr Netanyahu and Mr Barak, the two main backers of possible military action against Iran, were providing the Israeli public with false information to draw support for a strike. "They tell the public that if Israel acts, Iran won't have a nuclear bomb," said Mr Diskin.
"This is misleading. Actually, many experts say that an Israeli attack would accelerate the Iranian nuclear race. What the Iranians prefer to do today slowly and quietly, they would have the legitimacy to do quickly and in a much shorter time."
Mr Diskin was head of Shin Bet from 2005 to 2011, including during the current terms of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Barak. He is viewed as having had a good working relationship with Mr Netanyahu and is a respected figure in the security and political arena.
His first public statements on Iran since leaving his post last year are the latest sign of a policy split at the top in Israel. And following remarks last week by Gen Benny Gantz, head of the Israeli military, they are a further indication that officials in Israel's security establishment oppose a strike before diplomatic efforts and sanctions are exhausted.
Mr Gantz said he did not believe Iran's leadership would decide to build a nuclear bomb and that sanctions and diplomatic efforts were starting to bear fruit. Analysts said Mr Gantz's comments offered rare optimism from a top Israeli official about the negotiations with Tehran.
He spoke a day after Mr Netanyahu had given warning that Iran may still develop a nuclear bomb despite the toughened international sanctions.
Meir Dagan, the former head of Israel's Mossad spy agency who in the past year aggressively condemned the government's Iran policy on public forums, has called the idea of an Israeli strike on Iran "ridiculous".
Mr Diskin's comments, in a speech in the city of Kfar Saba on Friday, add to the increasing debate over the international community's handling of the threat of Iranian nuclear ambitions and about whether an Israeli military attack would be necessary to halt Tehran's building of an atom bomb.
"Such statements could make the government more apprehensive about attacking Iran," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli who runs the blog Middle East Analyst about the region's political and economic affairs.
"This could quite possibly discredit the option of a unilateral, premature Israeli attack before all other options are explored."
Mr Diskin's statements may provide fuel for officials in the US and other western countries who oppose such a strike in the near future, especially amid the renewal of talks over Iran's nuclear programme between the Islamic Republic and world powers.
Six countries - the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - are due to take part in their second meeting with Iranian officials in Baghdad on May 23.
Iranian state TV said Tehran would also conduct a new round of negotiations in Vienna on May 13-14 with the United Nations' nuclear agency, whose inspectors have demanded access to Iranian military sites.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What is double taxation?
- Americans living abroad file taxes with the Internal Revenue Service, which can cost hundreds of dollars to complete even though about 60 per cent do not owe taxes, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service
- Those obligations apply to millions of Americans residing overseas – estimates range from 3.9 million to 5.5 million – including so-called "accidental Americans" who are unaware they hold dual citizenship
- The double taxation policy has been a contentious issue for decades, with many overseas Americans feeling that it punishes them for pursuing opportunities abroad
- Unlike most countries, the US follows a citizenship-based taxation system, meaning that Americans must file taxes annually, even if they do not earn any income in the US.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The five pillars of Islam
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Results
2.30pm: Park Avenue – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Rb Seqondtonone, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
3.05pm: Al Furjan – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bosphorus, Dane O’Neill, Bhupat Seemar
3.40pm: Mina – Rated Condition (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Royal Mews, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar
4.15pm: Aliyah – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,900m; Winner: Ursa Minor, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
4.50pm: Riviera Beach – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 2,200m; Winner: Woodditton, Saif Al Balushi, Ahmad bin Harmash
5.25pm: Riviera – Handicap (TB) Dh2,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Al Madhar, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
6pm: Creek Views – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Al Salt, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy
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Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
My Country: A Syrian Memoir
Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.