Former Mossad head: Leaders who support terror are legitimate targets

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Heads of states which support terror and heads of terror organizations are legitimate targets for an Israeli attack, former Mossad head Shabtai Shavit said Tuesday. Speaking at the annual Jerusalem Conference, Shavit said that when battling terror, "there is full justification to bring the war to the enemy's arena - and to target him there." Shavit was possibly referring to the assassination of Hizbullah's chief operations officer Imad Mughniyeh earlier this month. Hizbullah has blamed Israel for the arch-terrorist's death, although Jerusalem has denied this. Also speaking at the conference, former top Mossad official Prof. Uzi Arad warned that Israel would "lose the battle" if it does not produce leaders of the caliber of former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The two-day 5th annual Jerusalem Conference hosts speakers who are key figures and policy makers in the political, economic, social, security/military, rabbinic and academic spheres in Israel. Conference sessions cover topics such as the international threat of jihad and radical Islam, military deterrence in a missile age, Israel's identity as a democratic Jewish state, poverty and welfare issues in Israeli society, world media trends - and, of course, the future of Jerusalem itself.