|
JERUSALEM: Israels spy agency, Mossad,
has been rocked to the core by an internal crisis provoking an avalanche
of resignations since Meir Dagan was appointed its chief in 2002, a
newspaper reported yesterday.
Earthquake at heart of Mossad, ran a headline on the
front page of the Yediot Aharonot, detailing a wave of unprecedented
departures from staff accusing their boss of driving the elite agency into
a dead end.
Defections stem from a serious breach of trust between
agents and reserve general Dayan. Among six recent people to leave are the
second and third in command, plus the head of special operations, the
daily said.
The latest report comes just over a year after Israels
private Channel 2 television claimed in November that more than 200
agents, including seven department heads, had resigned over the policies
of its controversial boss.
Dagan, a close associate of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon, has come under fire for launching risky operations abroad, said
the documentary based on interviews with former officials in the
agency.
When Dagan took over in October 2002, Mossad switched its
sights on international terrorism with a renewed focus on overseas
commando operations.
But the Israeli press has accused him of pushing the
fight against terrorism to the top of its priority list at the expense
of its information collection and analysis.
Dagan was Sharons political adviser during his election
campaign and previously served as an anti-terror adviser to Sharons main
political rival and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In 1970, Dagan ran a secret commando unit called Rimon, which,
according to press reports, summarily executed Palestinians accused of
carrying out attacks in the once Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. -
AFP | 
