"Charedization poses a greater existential threat to Israel than
Ahmadinejad," said former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy during an IDF
boarding school reunion.
At first Halevy said it is irrational for a country to state that it
faces an existential threat that it is unable to defend itself
against. "We should not speak of Iran in apocalyptic terms. I don't
think it's possible for them to destroy Israel."
He also made oblique references to provocative remarks on the issue by
former Mossad head Meir Dagan, and regarding the information currently
at his disposal, which is not up-to-date. "I think that anyone who
completes his term in office does not have an up-to-date picture,
therefore he should exercise caution. You can express an opinion, but
someone who has completed his post does not have all of the figures on
the operative plans. Iran's nuclear program is a cause for concern,
but from there to an existential threat is big stretch."
At that point Halevy issued an unbridled comment, saying the chareidi
public poses a far greater threat to the State of Israel. "The real
existential threat against Israel comes from within, the extremism,
the charedization, and this declining situation is a greater
existential threat to Israel than Ahmadinejad," he said.
In reaction, Finance Ministry Chairman MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said, "We
have to put a halt to the ranting and prattling by some of the heads
of the former security apparatus, particularly Efraim Halevy. His
severe remarks border on incitement against an entire sector of the
public in Israel. Especially at a time when some people are saying
words can kill, he would have been well advised to carefully weigh his
antagonizing, generalizing and inciteful comments, and he should be
held legally accountable for this."
"Based on my longstanding acquaintance with him," Rabbi Gafni added,
"these harsh statements are unlike him. It appears that Halevy has a
political agenda and after [former] Mossad chief Meir Dagan took the
Iranian issue away from him, he decided to go after the chareidi issue
to establish a niche for himself and make himself heard in the media.
His remarks are grave and dangerous."
Rabbi Gafni wrote to the Attorney General about the remarks and said
that he will insist on an answer.
