Looks like we're not the only ones who feel Dagan has opened his pie hole a bit too much...
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=223666Herschkowitz: Dagan should stand trial for Iran comments
By JPOST.COM STAFF
06/05/2011 12:04Steinitz: Dagan did not practice what he preached; former Mossad chief Yatom says Dagan had right to express opinions.
Talkbacks (10)
Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan found himself under fire from several different MKs on Sunday, after he made comments that an Israeli attack on Iran would lead to a regional war, and that Israel should adopt the Saudi Peace Initiative.
Science and Technology Minister Daniel Herschkowitz (Habayit Hayehudi) said that Dagan should be brought to stand trial for his comments.
"If someone had left a cabinet meeting saying what Israel can or cannot do, he would stand trial. Discretion is very important, and I'm therefore having difficulty understanding Meir Dagan's behavior," Channel 10 quoted Herschkowitz as saying before entering the meeting.
The science and technology minister added that this case is no different than any other when someone jeopardizes Israeli security, and that therefore Dagan should be sent to court.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz also took a jab at the former Mossad head, saying that "Dagan never liked chatter coming out of the defense establishment, and I think that the behavior he expected should also be expected of him."
The issue of Dagan's statements seem to come down as to where the right platform is for the former Mossad head to express his opinions regarding security issues.
“These are, by definition, political statements,” Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) told Army Radio last Thursday.
“He has a right to say these things, but if there are these beliefs, he should have voiced them during briefings.”
Former Mossad chief Danny Yatom told Israel Radio Dagan and other recently retired security officials have the right to express their opinion. There is, he added, a possibility of causing damage when a person who left the security services so recently expresses oneself vitriolically toward the prime minister and defense minister.
A former senior Mossad official, Rami Igra, told The Jerusalem Post that the attacks on Dagan were unwarranted and politically motivated.
“Meir Dagan is a citizen of the country like any other. He has a right to say what he thinks, and his view is based on many years of experience in security,” said Igra.
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.