IDF intelligence officials are among those angered over a statement made last week during a session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee by Mossad Intelligence Agency Director Meir Dagan, who stated Iran will have a nuclear weapon by 2014.

The IDF and others in the intelligence and defense communities feel the statement has compromised Israel’s position, with most experts feeling Iran will have an atom bomb before 2014, and Dagan’s statement is harmful to efforts to present the situation as such. Israel continues to seek to persuade the United States that the situation regarding Iran’s nuclear program is far more immediate that American intelligence officials believe. Dagan’s statement compromises these efforts.

While the Prime Minister’s Office is not commenting on Dagan’s statement, the daily HaMevaser reports that “behind closed doors, officials in the PM’s office are expressing displeasure with Dagan’s statements”. Prior to Dagan’s statement, Israel’s position was clear, that Iran would be bomb-capable by the end of the year.

A closer look at Dagan’s statement reveals that he actually stated Iran may be capable sometime between 2011-2014, but the earlier end of this range is most unlikely, pointing to 2014.

Despite the criticism, the cabinet on Sunday is going to approve another extension for Dagan, who is viewed as successful in his current post, He is serving for seven years and is expected to receive another one-year extention.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)