Mossad's catching some flak

[DukeNukeEm]

In western countries, including Britain, there was widespread anger at the 1,400 Palestinian casualties of the Gaza war. Barack Obama has declared the occupation "intolerable". Netanyahu heads the most rightwing coalition in Israel's history; his famous quip that the Middle East is a "tough neighbourhood" no longer seems to justify playing dirty.

 

Yet Israelis, and not just those on the right, worry that their very existence as an independent state is being de-legitimised. And, judging by the jobs section of the Mossad website, there are still plenty of opportunities for Israel's wannabe spies: challenging positions are available for researchers, analysts, security officers, codebreakers and other technical work. Speakers of Arabic and Persian are invited to apply to be intelligence officers.The work involves travel abroad and a "young and unconventional" environment.

 

It is a novelty of this episode that ordinary Israeli citizens are angry that their identities appear to have been stolen by their own government's secret servants – one reason why the Mossad chief Meir Dagan may find his days are numbered. But it is hard not to detect an undercurrent of popular admiration for the killers of Mabhouh. The day after the sensational CCTV images and passport photos were shown, the Israeli tennis champion Shahar Pe'er reached the quarter-finals of a major international competition in the emirate. "Another successful operation in Dubai," the Ynet website headlined its story.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/1...ck-mossad-dubai

 

I highly doubt Israel is going to see any less support from the west just because of this one episode, but there's a trend here that Israel is becoming much less willing to mess around and play by the rules.

[bmags]

there's also a trend of people less wanting to acquiesce to it.

Edited February 21, 2010 by bmags

[NorthSideSox72]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/1...ck-mossad-dubai

 

I highly doubt Israel is going to see any less support from the west just because of this one episode, but there's a trend here that Israel is becoming much less willing to mess around and play by the rules.

This isn't a trend - its the way its been for decades. There is nothing new here from Israel.

 

What's changed, as bmags alluded to, is the way the world is reacting to it.

 

 

[bmags]

This episode has little to do with it. The Goldstone report was the major factor. It was something that got a little bit of play on the blogs here, but it was a major revelation in other countries.

[DukeNukeEm]

This isn't a trend - its the way its been for decades. There is nothing new here from Israel.

 

What's changed, as bmags alluded to, is the way the world is reacting to it.

By world I'm assuming you mean NATO countries, and they aren't really standing up in meaningful defiance. The rest of the region reacts pretty strongly whenever Israel does anything.

 

They way I see it, the legitimacy of Israeli foreign policy kind of ebbs and flows, sometimes they place nice and sometimes they dont. Example: they concede territory to the PLO peacefully with a lot of international support...then they bomb the living s*** out of that territory like they're trying to win it back. I think it might have something to do with the sitting government, but I really dont know exactly what motivates them to be so Jekyll/Hyde.

 

Either way the reaction from the West still looks like Philip Seymour Hoffman after Bunny Lebowski offers to suck the dude's cock for $1000.

 

edit- found the video

Edited February 23, 2010 by DukeNukeEm

[bmags]

this really weird "andrew sullivan is an anti-semite" campaign TNR has going on really looks awful upon them.