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ISRAELI SPYING SCANDAL ROLLS ON
NEW ALLEGATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE
"The FBI
were hopping mad. The FBI had been
kicked very hard in their macho.
They are very, very macho."
MIDDLEEAST.ORG - MER - Washington - 13 Decembe: Spying,
influence-peddling, political blackmail, hard-ball lobbying, and
industrial espionage have been going on in Washington with regard to
Israel for quite some time. But getting hold of the smoking guns, as
was done in the notorious Jonathan Pollard case but wasn't achieved in
so many other cases, is very difficult...and very dangerous. For
years in fact it has been an unspoken reality in Washington that super
secret information the Israelis are known to be interested in should
not be shared with some 'Jewish' government officials. With the
coming to power first of the Clinton/Gore administration, and then of
the Bush/Cheney government, more than ever before key Jewish Zionist
personalities, and in some cases people actually considered Israeli
operatives long associated with 'the lobby' in one way or another, were
brought into power at the highest levels of the Pentagon, the White
House, the State Department, and also to a lesser extent the CIA and
other not so often mentioned arms of the U.S. government. With
Clinton it was the 'liberal' crowd often associated with the Labor
Party and the 'Peace Now' wing of the lobby. With Bush it is the
hard-line Jewish Neocons associated with Ariel Sharon and the 'JINSA'
wing of the lobby, with the best known of the organizations, the
American Israel Public Affairs Committtee (AIPAC) usually bending in
the wind politically depending on who is in power in Israel.
There
are some in Washington who think that the current spy investigations,
possibly now expanding further, can be used to put a little pressure on
the Israelis when it comes to the political deal making that may lie
ahead both in the region and with the Palestinians. But there are
others who think the Israelis are far better at this game than the
Americans and that their list of Washington skunks and scandals
involving many senior government officials now and past is considerably
more extensive than what the Americans can pin on them should it ever
come to that.
These two further articles have made it into print in recent days.
FBI steps up AIPAC probe
By Richard Sale
UPI Intelligence Correspondent
WASHINGTON - UPI : An FBI investigation into
alleged Israeli espionage against the United States and the possibility
a pro-Israel lobby group was involved in passing classified U.S data to
Tel Aviv has intensified because a confessed Pentagon spy has stopped
cooperating with federal law enforcement officials, U.S. government
sources said.
Larry Franklin, a Pentagon analyst in the Near East and South
Asia office who worked for the Defense Department's Office of Special
Plans confessed last August to federal agents he had held meetings with
a contact from the Israeli government during which he passed a highly
classified document on U.S. policy toward Iran, these sources said. The
document advocated support for Iranian dissidents, covert actions to
destabilize the Iranian government, arming opponents of the Islamic
regime, propaganda broadcasts into Iran, and other programs, these
sources said.
The FBI was also interested in finding out if Franklin was
involved or could name any Pentagon colleagues who were involved in
passing to Israel certain data about National Security Agency
intercepts, these sources said.
Franklin was caught quite by accident last summer as part of a larger investigation, these sources said.
In 2001, the FBI discovered new, "massive" Israeli spying
operations in the East Coast, including New York and New Jersey, said
one former senior U.S. government official. The FBI began intensive
surveillance on certain Israeli diplomats and other suspects and was
videotaping Naor Gilon, chief of political affairs at the Israeli
Embassy in Washington, who was having lunch at a Washington hotel with
two lobbyists from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby
group. Federal law enforcement officials said they were floored when
Franklin came up to their table and sat down.
The FBI confronted Franklin in August 2004, and there seemed to
be progress on the case, but after Franklin hired Washington lawyer
Plato Cacheris, Franklin's cooperation abruptly ceased, federal law
enforcement officials said. The turnabout apparently infuriated the
FBI, former federal law enforcement officials said. Franklin could not
be reached for comment.
Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counter-terrorism chief, who
has good ties with law enforcement officials said, "The FBI was
extremely displeased."
An FBI consultant told United Press International: "The FBI
were hopping mad. The FBI had been kicked very hard in their macho.
They are very, very macho."
On Dec. 1, FBI agents visited the AIPAC offices in Washington
and seized the hard drives and files of Steven Rosen, director of
research, and Keith Weissman, deputy director of foreign policy issues.
The FBI also served subpoenas on AIPAC Executive Director
Howard Kohr, Managing Director Richard Fishman, Communications Director
Renee Rothstein, and Research Director Raphael Danziger.
All are suspected of having acted as "cut outs" or
intermediaries who passed highly sensitive U.S. data from high-level
Pentagon and administration officials to Israel, said one former
federal law enforcement official.
One current FBI consultant said Rosen's name had first been
given to the FBI in 1986, along with 70 possible incidents of Israeli
espionage against the United States. No action was taken against him,
this source said. Rosen's attorney did not return phone calls.
AIPAC has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the affair. In
a public statement, the group said its continuing access to the White
House and senior administration officials would be "inconceivable...if
any shred of evidence of disloyalty or even negligence on AIPAC's part"
had been discovered.
At the time of Franklin's arrest, Israeli Ambassador Daniel
Ayalon, repeated his government's denials, saying on CNN: "I can tell
you here, very authoritatively, very categorically, Israel does not spy
on the United States."
Another Israeli government statement referred to America as "a deeply cherished ally."
But a former federal law enforcement official said Israeli
spying against the United States had been "widespread" for many years,
and that during the Cold War, Israeli penetration of U.S. operations
was second "only to the Soviet Union."
"Few people realize that the Israeli Counterintelligence Desk
at the Bureau was second in size only to the CI Soviet desk," he said.
A former very senior CIA counterintelligence official told UPI
that in 1998-99, the CIA discovered an Israeli couple, who were
subcontracted to a U.S. phone company, were working for Mossad, the
Israeli intelligence service.
"They did incredible damage -- they got incredibly sensitive
data, including key words identifying individuals or projects," this
source said, adding he himself gave the case to the FBI.
Perhaps the most notorious Israeli operation was the
recruitment of Jonathan Jay Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst, who
was convicted in U.S. federal court and sentenced to life in prison for
selling military documents to Israel. UPI reported in 1987, quoting FBI
officials, the FBI had traced stolen Pollard data up into the Eastern
Bloc where it was traded in return for the Soviet Union raising the
emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel. UPI - 9 December 2004
FBI investigating Israelis for military-industrial espionage
TEL AVIV — The FBI is investigating Israelis in New York suspected of
conducting inustrial espionage, according to officals with Israel's
defense ministry.
The FBI has refused to say whether it was investigating any Israelis.
Israeli officials said diplomats and defense representatives were being
urged to exercise caution in dealing with their U.S. counterparts, Middle East Newsline reported. They said
the defense representatives were ordered to be less aggressive in seeking
details of U.S. military platforms and systems.
Officials said the FBI has been investigating Israeli behavior. They
said the FBI suspects that Israeli representatives, particularly those from
the Defense Ministry legation in New York, were involved in industrial
espionage.
The Defense Ministry said most of the allegations were based on a
misunderstanding of Israeli culture. The ministry said in all of the cases,
Israeli representatives were seeking details of unclassified material.
"For the past three years, the MoD has been engaged in a comprehensive
training program aimed at training Israeli officials and industry members in
the American way of thinking, in order to prevent misunderstandings that
stem from different cultures and codes of behavior," a ministry statement
said. "Accordingly, numerous briefings have taken place in the ministry, at
army bases and in the industries in order to clarify the rules of 'do' and
'don't do.'"
Israel has issued new regulations for its representatives
in the United States in an effort to avoid complaints of industrial
espionage.
The regulations were issued in response to complaints from the U.S.
government that Israeli officials were engaged in industrial espionage. The
complaints cited the behavior by Israeli representatives during recent U.S.
military tours and defense exhibitions.
The latest seminar was held the Defense Ministry's mission in New York
in November. Ministry spokeswoman Rachel Neidek-Ashkenazi said Israeli
officials sought details of what the United States termed "unclassified
controlled information."
"From our perspective, unclassified is unclassified, and this type of
information is open to everybody," Ms. Neidek-Ashkenazi said. "It is
permitted to ask questions regarding this information. But with the
Americans, there is another level of information that is unclassified but
under control and if [an Israeli] continues to ask questions [pertaining to
this category], he may be perceived of having crossed the line."
So far, officials said, the U.S. government has not relayed formal
charges of industrial espionage against any Israeli. The FBI has refused to
say whether it was investigating any Israelis.
Officials have acknowledged that Israeli representatives routinely
attend U.S. defense exhibitions and seek information of displayed platforms.
They said Israeli representatives are also often invited to tours by the
U.S. military or Pentagon. Monday, December 13, 2004 - worldtribune.com
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December 2004
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(December 18, 2004)
Unique and Exclusive: News, Views, & Analysis Governments, Lobbies, & the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know. MiddleEast.Org
MER Article Causes Conf Cancellation as Palestinian Speaker Abruptly Backs Out
(December 17, 2004)
The organization it seems then quickly changed the homepage of it's elaborate website, removing the main lead picture at the top which showed members of the organization posing with senior National Security Council neocon Elliot Abrams. Also removed quickly was the picture of Khalidi.
Additionally all information about the phone conference which was advertised to feature Khalidi at 8pm Thursday evening simply disappeared; all mention of something that had previously been prominently promoted simply vanished without explanation or comment as if it never was to be.
Prof Rashid Khalidi helps Israeli and American Jewish Zionist groups
(December 16, 2004)
While courageous Israeli academics like Tanya Reinhart at Tel Aviv University, long time Israeli writers like Uri Avneri, and brilliant journalists like Robert Fisk are in fact speaking up loudly warning about what Sharon and Peres and their armies of propaganda agents and client organizations are up to; tragically Palestinian academics like Rashid Khalidi are cowering more than ever even to the extent of allowing themselves to be more blatantly used by the Zionist organizations than ever before.
Egypt pushed and bribed to Economic 'Intercourse' with Israel
(December 15, 2004)
Since the first Camp David Middle East summit estimates are that overall, including economic, military, CIA, and AID American monies, Egypt has received in one way or another approaching $100 billion for agreeing to the American-pushed 'peace agreement'... The once proud though poor greatest of the Arab countries, Egypt, constantly feels the stain of historic political prostitution.
ABBAS/ALA/SHAATH Regime Running Fast - Half Palestinian People Not Allowed to Vote
(December 14, 2004)
In a few weeks the U.S. and Israeli approved and financed 'election' will take place. The most credible and respected Palestinian leaders are gone. The widely supported Hamas organization is boycotting. 'Israeli Palestinians' are not allowed to vote. 'Jerusalem Palestinians' will have to vote absentee. And forgotten most of all are the majority of Palestinians -- most of them still living in refugee camps throughout the region from Jordan to Syria to Lebanon -- who will have no vote at all thanks to the policies of Israel, the United States, and the 'new Palestinian leadership'.
Latest Washington Israeli Spy Scandal Escalating
(December 13, 2004)
There are some in Washington who think that the current spy investigations, possibly now expanding further, can be used to put a little pressure on the Israelis when it comes to the political deal making that may lie ahead both in the region and with the Palestinians. But there are others who think the Israelis are far better at this game than the Americans and that their list of Washington skunks and scandals involving many senior government officials now and past is considerably more extensive than what the Americans can pin on them should it ever come to that.
MER Track Record and the Assassination/Coverup of Yasser Arafat
(December 13, 2004)
Looking ahead, the historical stakes have become much higher, the costs in bloodshed and treasure already far greater, and the new 'peace process' already considerably more convoluted with even greater ominous implications for all in the international community of nations.
AMERICA the TITANIC
(December 11, 2004)
From the heart of the Washington Republican 'National Security' establishment, Harlan Ullman warns that the U.S. has sailed into very dangerous times and appears like the TITANIC headed for disaster. The dangers Ullman warns are in many ways as much from within as from without. The TITANIC metaphor is a powerful one, and Ullman repeats it a number of times for emphasis.
Palestinian Push - Over and Under
(December 10, 2004)
The big U.S. and Israeli Palestinian push is on. Put in place a new 'moderate' under control Palestinian regime, pump in some money for bribes and payoffs, train more regime 'security police', declare an end to the uprising against occupation (the Intifada), hard repress any and all opposition, kill and arrest those who continue to fight, and presto maybe you have a new police-state client-regime dutifully labled 'moderate' and 'democracy' however quisling in reality.
CHENEY Did It! Smoking Gun Court Case About WMD Scandal
(December 9, 2004)
In this eye-opening story today about a very unusual court case brought by a former senior CIA analysis which could serve as the smoking gun that the Bush/Cheney administration purposefully cooked the WMD books there's not a single mention of the unprecedented 9 or more once secret visits to the CIA of VP Cheney or the real potential significance of this legal political bombshell.
Ghosts of Vietnam and the 'Evil Empire'
(December 8, 2004)
More and more even in Washington circles these days one hears...but in spoken whispers certainly not in the corporate print or TV media..."police state", "fascism", "Good Germans". As for Capitol Hill, it looks more like a "no-go-zone" these days -- beyond being 'Occupied Israeli territory' -- than the Congress of a free and brave democracy.
Iraq and Palestine - Gloomy Predictions
(December 7, 2004)
Whether the further explosions and greater yet bloodshed and civil war will erupt in weeks, or months, or years, the course is now far more clear than the corporate media usually deals with. But today the New York Times is used for major leaks from the under-purge under-blame CIA about what to really expect in occupied Iraq, and recently the brilliant British journalist Robert Fisk wrote in The Independent about what to really expect in occupied Palestine.
America's Mubarak Regime
(December 6, 2004)
Moreover Mubarak is cooperating with the Israeli-American plan to now bring in Egyptian military forces to guard Gaza's southern border and help police the Palestinians into submission. If allowed to proceed by the Palestinians they can expect European and/or U.N. forces to be forced on them in the future in the deceptive guise of an expanded 'roadmap peace plan' to control the West Bank if the new Palestinian regime isn't up to the job.
Anti-Semitism? Rubbish!
(December 4, 2004)
Now what's going on with the Presbyterians is not at all "anti-semitism" as that term has been known over the years. It is anti-Israel, and many of the American Jewish Zionist organizations will insist it is anti-Jewish -- which in a sense is true if the positions these Jewish organizations take are fair game for protest, which indeed they are.
Ziad Asali - Latest Washington Palestinian Quisling
(December 3, 2004)
One of the many reasons the Palestinian people are in the terrible predicament they find themselves has been the extraordinarily co-opted quisling persons that so tragically have been allowed to represent them in Washington and to the American media for so many years. For those wondering about this choice of words, the definition of 'quisling', admittedly very pointed and harsh, does not give the full explanation of what has happened in Washington but it will have to do for now. During the German ooccupation of Norway in World War II the head of the Nazi-installed regime was Vidkun Quisling. His very name has since come to mean: A traitor who serves as the puppet of the enemy occupying his or her country.
9/11 was foreseeable one way or another
(December 3, 2004)
What has happened in recent years, indeed what happened on 9/11 and then it's aftermath, were in general quite foreseeable, no matter how much official Washington keeps pretending otherwise. The aggressive, imperialistic, self-righteous, deceptive, and oh-so-arrogant policies of the United States and Israel were at work for decades provoking and creating a kind of historical blowback that the whole world is now forced to live with. The following MER Editorial was published on Thanksgiving day in November 1997.
To Book Publishers and Literary Agents
(December 3, 2004)
MER is now looking for a literary agent and a publishing house. With events in the Middle East now gripping the headlines, with another round in the Israeli-Palestinian 'Peace Process' now at hand, and with the crusading 'neocons' firmly empowered in Washington, serious book publication on these subjects is more timely and more needed than ever. We have a unique compendium of exclusive MER articles, plus program and speech transcriptions, in addition to a number of highly qualified individual expert authors, which we are now interested in publishing.
FBI and Israeli-Jewish Lobby Square Off
(December 2, 2004)
You'd think that when the Capitol Hill offices of the most important foreign policy/Middle East 'lobby' are invaded by the FBI, computers and files seized and subpoenas served against top officials, this would be important news in Washington.
War Crimes Escalating - From Guernica to Fallujah
(December 2, 2004)
The new American-Israeli crusade, masquerading as the bringing of 'democracy and freedom' to the Muslim and Arab peoples, is marching on with new targets now in sight: Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Hamas, N. Korea, Pakistan (if, or is it when, Musharraf falls)...and who knows who else as all are being coerced or forced to march into the bleak unknown. Fallujah is not meant to be an end for the coalition of fundamentalist and Zionist Neocons who now have Washington firmly in their grip; it is rather another new escalating beginning.
NewsFlash - Barghouti IN! After All
(December 1, 2004)
Now with Barghouti's entrance into the Palestinian election race and with Hamas in part threatening to 'boycot' if their own interests are not met -- and with Iraq exploding in greater hatred and violence against the Americans -- the entire U.S.-Israeli strategy for January 'elections' in both occupied Palestine and Iraq is very much in doubt.
Sharon - Past and Future - MER FLASHBACK
(December 1, 2004)
"Sharon was a killer obsessed with hatred of Palestinians. I had promised Arafat that his people would not get any harm. Sharon, however, ignored this commitment entirely. Sharon's word is worth nil." -Ambassador Philip Habib, Ronald Reagan's Special Middle East Envoy*
America's 'GUERNICA'
(December 1, 2004)
Pablo Picasso's haunting painting, 'Guernica', has immortalized that Spanish city whose brutal destruction was a precursor to all the horrendous death and suffering of World War II, now a finally fading generation ago. It was on Thanksgiving Day that we published detailed foreign reports about what has been done this month by what many in the world now consider to be the imperial crusading forces of the United States and Great Britain, 'on our watch', to the Iraqi city of 'Falluja' -- Falluja in Memoriam on Thanksgiving. Now this haunting essay, "Fallujah: America's Guernica", suggests a historical twist in time and fate we all should be pondering.
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