Israel's former chief intelligence slams PM over Jewish nation- state bill

The former head of Israel’s Security Agency Shin Bet, Carmi Gillon, launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, slamming him as an “egomaniac”.

Gillon’s remarks came during a demonstration against the controversial “Jewish State Law” organised by Israel’s Labour Party, Meretz (part of the Peace Now group), outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported.

“Israel is headed by a group of pyromaniacs and is being led by an egomaniac to its final destruction,” declared Gillon. “The continuation of the radical and messianic policy on the Temple Mount will bring about a Gog and Magog war against the Jewish people” he warned.

Referring to the proposed bill that would legally enshrine Israel’s status as a “Jewish state”, Gillon described the changes as a “cancer” that will “eat the body of the entire nation”. Introduced in the wake of a recent wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, the controversial legislation would reify the role of Jewish law in the Israeli legal system and is due to face its first vote this week.

Israel’s former president, Shimon Peres, has also criticised the law, which some have called anti-democratic. Israel’s Public Radio quoted Peres as saying that: “the bill is an attempt to undermine the Declaration of Independence for political interests”. Peres made the comments during a ceremony marking the 41st anniversary of the death of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, in Jerusalem. The law “will damage the country both at home and abroad and will erode the democratic principles of the State of Israel,” he cautioned.