Netanyahu anti-Iran speech bullshit: Former Mossad chief

A former head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency has described as “bullshit” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the US Congress, saying the Israeli premier lied to the US lawmakers about Iran’s nuclear threat.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel Two aired on Friday, Meir Dagan said Netanyahu’s anti-Iran rant was no more than “a political speech that caused diplomatic and defense damage to Israel.”

He warned that Netanyahu’s policies toward the nuclear negotiations between Iran the P5+1 group of countries would only bring out the Israeli regime’s growing isolation in the international community.

Dagan also lashed out at the Israeli premier for antagonizing US President Barack Obama over Iran’s nuclear program.

Last week, the former Mossad chief accused Netanyahu of bringing “intolerable” risks upon the Israeli regime by fraying ties with the US, adding the premier’s policies are detrimental to Tel Aviv’s future and security.

“I feel that we are now at a critical point regarding our existence and our security… Our standing in the world is not brilliant right now. The question of Israel’s legitimacy is up for debate,” he stated, adding, “We should not erode our relations with our most important friend…This is not proper behavior for a prime minister.”

On March 7, Dagan will reportedly give a keynote speech against Netanyahu in a rally in Tel Aviv.

Bibi’s speech fruitless: Poll

According to a poll recently conducted by Israel’s Dahaf Research Institute, some 53 percent of the 790 Israeli respondents said the premier’s controversial diatribe against Iran would fail to impact the ongoing talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The results showed that only 28 percent of the participants gave a positive assessment of his speech, saying it will influence Iran’s nuclear talks and lower the chances of a potential agreement aimed at ending the Western dispute over Iran’s nuclear case.

Some 29 percent of the Israelis also said that Netanyahu’s speech was just a political campaign to bolster the position of his right-wing Likud party in the regime’s upcoming parliamentary elections on March 17.

Netanyahu addressed the US Congress on Tuesday, calling on the United States not to negotiate “a very bad deal” with Iran over its nuclear energy program.

“We’ve been told for over a year that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well this is a bad deal, a very bad deal. We’re better off without it,” he said, adding, “The alternative to this deal is a much better deal; a better deal that doesn’t leave Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure and such a short breakout point.”

“According to the deal not a single nuclear facility would be demolished,” the Israeli premier noted, claiming that “this deal won’t change Iran for the better, it will only change the Middle East for the worst.”

Iran and the P5+1 countries – Russia, China, Britain, France, and the United States plus Germany – are seeking to seal a comprehensive nuclear deal by July 1. The two sides have already missed two self-imposed deadlines for inking a final agreement since they signed an interim one in the Swiss city of Geneva in November 2013.

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