"Israel should do whatever it can to bring down Syria’s Assad", Former Mossad head said

Published on 29 April 2013, by M. Tomazy.

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan believes that for both moral and strategic reasons, Israel should “do whatever it can to make sure that Syrian President Basher Assad is removed from power.”

Speaking at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York on Sunday, Dagan said that the Assad’s regime’s killing of civilians because of their ethnic or religious identity is an immorality that any Israeli, especially a Holocaust survivor, should try and stop.

Removing Assad from power, he added, will be highly beneficial for Israel from a strategic point of view, weakening Hezbollah and Iran in the process. Dagan said that Israel should not be too concerned about the potential animosity a new regime in Damascus, saying that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries will do their utmost to ensure that the successor regime is moderate.

Former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told the conference that Israel can attack Iran – and will also be able to withstand the consequences of such an attack. “We cannot allow this regime to have the bomb,” Ashkenazi said. Ashkenazi said that the recent multi-billion dollar U.S. arms sale to Israel “sends a signal” to Iran about Israel’s capabilities.

Former Military  Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin that the United States has the capability to take out Iran’s nuclear program – but hasn’t convinced Tehran that it will take such a step if it becomes necessary.

Source: HAARETZ - http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/former-mossad-head-dagan-israel-should-do-whatever-it-can-to-bring-down-syria-s-assad.premium-1.518081#