Former Shin Bet Chief Diskin considering entering politics

Diskin became active on social media in recent years, using twitter and Facebook to criticize the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: JUNE 19, 2015 04:36
Yuval Diskin, the former head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) (photo credit: FACEBOOK)
Yuval Diskin, the former head of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet)
(photo credit: FACEBOOK)
Outspoken former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin is seriously considering running for office, he said on Thursday.
When asked if he is running for politics, he responded, “I’ll announce when I decide,” speaking in an interview with Walla! News.
Diskin pointed out that his cooling-off period to enter politics, as a former senior security official, ended before this year’s election, but he turned down many offers to run for the Knesset.
“There’s a paradoxical process happening with me,” he explained. “On the one hand, I very much want to have an influence and I think that I have the tools to influence things in the diplomatic and security areas. On the other, I have an aversion and bad feelings toward the political system.
I am currently examining these two forces and have to decide which is stronger.”
Diskin became active on social media in recent years, using Twitter and Facebook to criticize the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his handling of the Iranian threat, negotiations with the Palestinians and last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, among other issues.
Diskin publicly called to support opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) in March’s election. Labor, which together with Hatnua makes up the Zionist Union, must hold a leadership primary within 14 months of losing an election, meaning by May 2016.