Metropolis Reality Forums - Israeli Deny Spying

Sponsored by: The Fans!

Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 20^th, 2025, 3:09am

Upcoming Premiere Dates:
Survivor 23, Season premiere
Thursday, September 14 (8:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT) on CBS

Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Israeli Deny Spying ť

   Metropolis Reality Forums
   Off-Topic Forums
   In the News (Moderators: lakelady, yesteach, MediaScribe, Bumper, Isle_be_back)
   Israeli Deny Spying

Previous topic | New Topic | Next topic »

Pages: 1

Add Poll

Notify of replies

Send Topic

Author

Topic: Israeli Deny Spying (Read 136 times)

david
Guest

Israeli Deny Spying
« on: Aug 29^th, 2004, 10:33am »

Quote

Modify

Remove

JERUSALEM - Israeli officials predicted Sunday that allegations the government spied on the Pentagon (news - web sites) would prove false, but analysts said damage had already been done the Jewish state's image and that of its lobbying ally in Washington.

AP Photo

American officials said Saturday that the FBI (news - web sites) had spent more than a year investigating whether a Pentagon analyst funneled highly classified material to Israel.

The material described White House policy toward Iran. Israel says Iran and its nuclear ambitions pose the greatest single threat to the Jewish state.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s office issued a denial late Saturday, saying "Israel does not engage in intelligence activities in the U.S."

The scandal dominated Israeli newspapers and radio reports Sunday. In interviews, both current and former Israeli intelligence officials said it was highly unlikely that Israel would have to spy on the U.S. government.

They pointed to close ties between the U.S. and American intelligence communities. They also said there had been a strict ban on espionage against U.S. targets since the 1985 arrest of American naval analyst Jonathan Pollard for passing on secrets to Israel. Pollard is serving a life sentence.

Israeli legislator Ehud Yatom, chairman of the parliamentary subcommittee on covert intelligence, said he expected the allegations to be withdrawn.

"I imagine that within a few days the United States will come out with an announcement that Israel has no connection whatsoever with the supposed spy and his activities," he told the radio.

The U.S. investigation centers on whether a Pentagon analyst passed classified material about Iran to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential main Israeli lobbying organization in Washington, and whether that group in turn passed the material to Israel. Both AIPAC and Israel deny the allegations.

U.S. officials identified the analyst as Larry Franklin, an Iran specialist working under Douglas J. Feith, a top Pentagon official with close ties to Israel. Franklin did not respond to a message left at his office.

Commentators feared the reports would revive allegations that American Jewish groups may have put Israel's interests above those of the United States, and whether Israel's allies in Washington may have excessive influence in the White House.

"It breathes new life into the assertion that Israeli, and not American, interests led to the war in Iraq (news - web sites)," wrote Nathan Guttman in the Haaretz daily. "It revives the old charge that Israel is not an ally but a treacherous country, and the old saw that American Jews have a 'divided loyalty' problem."

Eitan Gilboa, professor of political science at Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University, questioned the timing of the reports. Writing in the Yediot Ahronot daily, he said the reports might be an attempt to embarrass President Bush (news - web sites) before the Republican convention and presidential election.

Uzi Arad, a former senior official in the Mossad spy agency, said the allegations were leaked to hurt the pro-Israel lobby in Washington.

"They way it was reported, they pointed out in which office (Franklin) worked," Arad told Israel Radio. "They pointed at people like Doug Feith or other defense officials who have long been under attack within the American bureaucracy."

Feith is an influential aide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld whose previous work included prewar intelligence on Iraq, including purported ties between Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime and al-Qaida terrorism network.

In Jerusalem, an observer of U.S.-Israel relations familiar with AIPAC's operations said it was quite possible the organization had legitimate professional contacts with Franklin, but said it was unlikely it took part in any wrongdoing.

"This would be clearly suicidal to a Washington lobbyist organization," he said on condition of anonymity. Nonetheless, he said AIPAC was taking the matter "totally seriously" and feared the allegations could damage the group's standing in Washington.

IP Logged