Outgoing Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Chief Yuval Diskin said he is
"very worried by what [is expected to] take place in September,"
referring to a Palestinian initiative to seek statehood in the United
Nations.
Speaking at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, Diskin
said, "September is always a very bad month in the Middle East. I'm not
sure that things will happen on the first of October. I expect that it
will set in motion processes that can also deteriorate if no
developments take place."
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Speaking
at the same event, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon also addressed
the Palestinian initiative to seek statehood in the United Nations in
September, saying that Israel is powerless to prevent it.
"Israel
will no succeed to prevent recognition of a Palestinian state in the
[UN] General Assembly, driven by an automatic Arab majority," Ayalon
said in a speech at Tel Aviv University.
"But such a decision will not be taken in the Security Council," he added, "where there is a majority of responsible countries."
Regarding
the responsibility of other countries to the peace process, Ayalon said
that the United State, Russia, the European Union and several other
countries are all obligated by the Oslo Accords, which demand a
diplomatic process involving dialogue.
The Shin Bet chief also addressed the recent US operation that killed
Osama bin Laden. The United States has more legal leeway than Israel,
enabling it to carry out operations like the one which killed bin Laden
in Pakistan earlier this month, Dsikin said.
“In comparison to
Israel which is under constant criticism regarding its war on terror,
the US can permit itself to launch operations like these without facing a
trial afterwards,” Diskin said. “The Americans can influence
international courts. Israel has more difficulty doing so.”
Last
week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s military secretary had to back
out of a visit to England out of fear that he would be arrested for his
involvement in Operation Cast Lead two years ago.
Diskin also
said that while terrorist attacks are down in recent years, Palestinian
terrorist groups are still motivated. He said that the Shin Bet foiled
over 100 attacks, including suicide bombings, in recent years against
Israeli targets.
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