Netanyahu Planned Attack Against Iran in 2011: Former Mossad Chief
- Netanyahu Planned Attack Against Iran in 2011: Former Mossad Chief
by http://www.presstv.com/
A former Mossad chief says hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military back in 2011 to prepare for a possible attack against Iran, but he later withdrew the order due to opposition from the spy agency and the army.
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In the excerpts of an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 news released on Wednesday, Tamir Pardo, who headed the Mossad spy agency back then, said Netanyahu had ordered him and then Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz to prepare the military for an attack on Iran within 15 days.
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Netanyahu’s abrupt order promoted Pardo to examine whether the prime minister had the authority to issue such a directive, he said.
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“I made countless inquiries about every possible course of action. I checked with former heads of Mossad, I talked to legal advisers, I consulted with anyone I could consult with to understand who was authorized to give instructions on any subject connected to starting a war,” Pardo explained.
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“When someone tells you, ‘Establish a countdown process,’ you realize that he is not playing games with you,” Pardo stated. Concerned over the grave consequences that such a military action could entail, Pardo even considered tendering his resignation at the time.
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“Such a plan is not something that you just order for practice. If this is ordered, it is done for one of two reasons: either because you really intend for such a thing to take place or because you want to send a signal to someone out there,” the ex-Mossad chief said. Netanyahu, he added, eventually dropped that order due to resistance from Pardo and Gantz.
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The interview comes around a month after the Israeli parliament (Knesset) adopted a controversial Netanyahu-backed law, giving the prime minister the authority to declare war after only consulting his minister for military affairs and without cabinet approval.
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