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after he appointed controversial right-wing politician Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister, former Mossad director
Efraim Halevy told Al Jazeera. "I think he is a fearmonger. I think he uses fear in a way which one should not use," said
Halevy, who was director of Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, from 1998 to 2002.Halevy particularly cited the
conduct of IDF soldiers when referring to fearmongering and Jewish extremism, citing the March incident with an officer in Hebron who shot dead a subdued Palestinian attacker. "There are certain
rules of the game in terms of combat - what you do when an enemy has been shot, has been neutralized, he can no longer fight, but he is still alive. Are you able to execute him as apparently was carried out in a certain case?" Halevy said.
Such episodes of unprovoked violence suggest the revaluation of basic principles in Israeli society is underway and very troublesome, he said. "I think nobody should vote out of fear," Halevy said, adding that the appointment of Lieberman signaled the
"beginning of the countdown to the end of the administration of Mr. Netanyahu."The former Mossad boss also
served under Netanyahu, who, in turn, has been the second-longest serving head of government in Israeli history. Halevy believes that
while the Likud leader is in power, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is out of the question. The most favorable outcome of the decade-long confrontation, Halevy said, is to let Hamas govern in Gaza, which is "the best situation for Israel." All combat troops stationed near the Gaza border take the same stand along with some senior military officials, Halevy said.
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