Ex-Mossad Chief Tells CNN’s Amanpour ‘There’s Every Grounds’ For Israeli Soldiers to Refuse to Serve Under Netanyahu

Former Head of the Mossad Efraim Halevy tore into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday night. Notably, Netanyahu appointed Halevy to lead Israel’s national intelligence agency during his first term beginning in the late 1990s.

Amanpour and Halevy discussed the Netanyahu government’s proposed judicial reform law that would place supreme court judge appointments in the hands of leaders of the Knesset and allow for a simple majority of the Knesset to nullify any supreme court ruling. Critics have denounced the reform as “anti-democratic” warning such a law would strip the court of its power and effectively leave the prime minister unchecked.

In recent weeks, Israeli reservists made headlines by refusing to train – including all but 3 of the 40 reservist airforce pilots in Israel’s elite 69 Squadron. Additionally, hundreds of senior Israeli officers signed letters announcing their refusal to serve if the law passes.

Amanpour played a video of Netanyahu addressing the issue on March 6th:

When we fight on the battlefield and look right and left, we don’t do so to check the political views of our brothers and sisters. We look right and left, knowing that we are storming together, shoulder to shoulder against our enemies to ensure our security and our future.

In a public struggle. There is room for protest. There is room for disagreements, for expressing opinions. But there is no room for refusal.

“You were an active chief and you know, one of your or many of your people would come to you and say, ‘Sir, I cannot operate. I cannot serve under these circumstances.’ Netanyahu says there’s no grounds for refusal,” Amanpour said, turning to Halevy for comment.

“There’s every grounds for refusal. And the fact of the matter is that he concealed this plan of theirs before the election and only revealed it after the election,” Halevy replied.

“He knew full well if this had been the election platform of his party and his side of the, of the aisle in the parliament, he would not have won the election. And a person who misleads the public on such a key issue might also mislead the public and also mislead the forces who are risking their lives in assessing what should be done on the security field,” concluded Halevy in a remarkable comment from a former security leader.

Amanpour also asked Halevy what he believes is motivating Netanyahu to go down this course, which has sparked mass protests throughout Israel and led to widespread domestic turmoil.

“So why do you think he’s taken such a risky move? Because not only have you laid out the risks from your side of the fence, but the governor of the Bank of Israel has also said that this is crazy. Others have appealed to the president to, quote, stop this insanity. Your president, some have, you know, said that it could cause civil war. Why do you think Bibi Netanyahu has taken this step, not to mention, you know, criticism and concern from major allies like the United States?” Amanpour asked.

“I’m not a psychologist and I don’t pretend to be a psychiatrist either. But I believe that the Benjamin Netanyahu of today is not the Benjamin Netanyahu that I knew when he appointed me head of Mossad,” Halevy replied, concluding:

And I grieve for this, but I cannot accept that he should continue and lead the country. And I believe, therefore, that if no solution is found to put this new project of his into wraps and never to be unwrapped, then I think we will be entering a situation of a non-constitutional divide.

Watch the full clip above via CNN International.