Dagan has no right revealing secrets

We are indebted to him. We owe him everything. He logged countless hours in the service of the state, he made the right decisions that allowed us to live in a more secure country. His judgement saved lives and frustrated enemy plans. He was in charge of the spooks; his term was extended over and over again, and he won professional acclaim. He was vested with power.

But he suddenly changed. Something has gone wrong. At first appearance, the former Mossad chief Meir Dagan was not so much intoxicated by his own power as he was confused by the sheer strength that he had accumulated. He forgot that democracies have an elected echelon and a professional class that implements policy. Dagan, it seems, believed the former had been relegated to the role of appointing the latter, "the decision-maker class."

Could he have forgotten how things work in a democratic system? Is he not aware that it is those who devise policy and decide on a certain course of action who will have to be held accountable by the people? In other words, it is the head of the pyramid, the prime minister, who will forever be evaluated on how things unfold.

But Dagan's behavior is more than just a symptom of his has-been status; his thinking is fundamentally flawed and could indicate that he has shed his dignity and humility. Perhaps because he no longer wields influence, he has decided to adopt a binary worldview that pits "us" (the "good" guys, such as former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert) vs. "them" (those who do not share the exact same opinions and happen to be currently be in power).

And of course, the good guys are out on a mission to save the country. That is why they are befuddled by the critics who fault them for divulging secret information on the deliberations about Iran. When they were in charge, they used to reprimand others for much less. They would take them to court and ask them to provide explanations.

But the incumbent political echelon has so far refused to engage in such a witch hunt. Even though the "good guys" have clearly gone overboard, there is no reaction from Jerusalem. Had the law been enforced on former members of the defense establishment as it is enforced on the average Joe, Dagan should have been served with an arrest warrant first thing Monday morning.

The coordinated, almost routine, attack by Olmert and Dagan on the most sensitive issue there is should not be ignored, particularly because this long offensive has been taking place against the backdrop of such regional flux, including in Iran. As a result of the shifting sands, the U.S. intelligence community has had to revise its assessments, as have agencies in the EU and other important nations.

Judging from U.S. President Barack Obama's rhetoric of late, it seems that he, as well as other European leaders, have gone a long way toward embracing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's views on Iran's nuclear program. This is reinforced by what the former Director of Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin had to say in a recent speech on Iran, in which he said the regime had crossed the red line Netanyahu had drawn.

Israeli leaders have occasionally acted against the advice of the defense establishment at critical junctures: Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor; former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and the decision to disband the Palmach pre-state paramilitary organization and have it integrate into the newly formed Israel Defense Forces.

Dagan's free pass in the media, equivalent to the delicate handling of a Sukkot Etrog (citron), must come to an end. Someone must confront him and tell him: Sir, your contribution to the state is invaluable, and you, like any other citizen, are entitled to your own opinion, but just because you are no longer in a position of power doesn't mean you can violate secrecy pledges. You may not break all the laws at will, nor can you abide by your own set of rules.

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