The Best Spies a Friend Could Have
The story of Larry Franklin, the Defense Department analyst suspected of spying for Israel with officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is warming up as details of the indictment are released and speculation begins as to the identities of specific, but unnamed others involved in the plot, i.e. "DOD employee A" and "DOD employee B". See that story at
TomPaine .
Of course, those sympathetic to Israel insist that Franklin and the AIPAC boys are completely innocent and, in fact, the victims of an FBI sting. Israel would never spy on its great friend the United States, they say.
Can memory be so short ? Have we forgotten about the infamous Israeli Art Student ring that spied on U.S. government installations in the months before 9/11 and also kept tabs on the 9/11 hijackers ? That story won't go away and recently resurfaced, oddly enough, in an Israeli newspaper.
Which brings to mind the companion story of the Israeli nationals with links to Mossad who were seen filming the attacks on the Twin Towers from a parking lot on the Jersey side of the river. Did they have prior knowledge of the plan which was (presumably) not shared with the U.S. government ? Were they working with the "Art Students" who were tracking the hijackers ? We don't know. After many weeks of solitary confinement and interrogation they were simply returned to Israel.
No list of Israeli anti-U.S. espionage would be complete without a mention of Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. Navy employee convicted of spying for Israel in the eighties and still in prison. Another "innocent man" according to many Israelis who are demanding his release.
And while not espionage in the purest sense, the sinking of the U.S.S. Liberty by Israeli forces during the 1967 war is certainly evidence that Israel will not allow U.S. interests, or the lives of U.S. citizens, to weigh heavily against those of Israel.
Part of the Israeli defense in the Franklin case is to observe that "the relationship" between the U.S. and Israel is now "so close" that there is no need for spying, all intelligence is "shared". There is another word for this "relationship" in the world of intelligence and espionage. Penetration.
TomPaine .
Of course, those sympathetic to Israel insist that Franklin and the AIPAC boys are completely innocent and, in fact, the victims of an FBI sting. Israel would never spy on its great friend the United States, they say.
Can memory be so short ? Have we forgotten about the infamous Israeli Art Student ring that spied on U.S. government installations in the months before 9/11 and also kept tabs on the 9/11 hijackers ? That story won't go away and recently resurfaced, oddly enough, in an Israeli newspaper.
Which brings to mind the companion story of the Israeli nationals with links to Mossad who were seen filming the attacks on the Twin Towers from a parking lot on the Jersey side of the river. Did they have prior knowledge of the plan which was (presumably) not shared with the U.S. government ? Were they working with the "Art Students" who were tracking the hijackers ? We don't know. After many weeks of solitary confinement and interrogation they were simply returned to Israel.
No list of Israeli anti-U.S. espionage would be complete without a mention of Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. Navy employee convicted of spying for Israel in the eighties and still in prison. Another "innocent man" according to many Israelis who are demanding his release.
And while not espionage in the purest sense, the sinking of the U.S.S. Liberty by Israeli forces during the 1967 war is certainly evidence that Israel will not allow U.S. interests, or the lives of U.S. citizens, to weigh heavily against those of Israel.
Part of the Israeli defense in the Franklin case is to observe that "the relationship" between the U.S. and Israel is now "so close" that there is no need for spying, all intelligence is "shared". There is another word for this "relationship" in the world of intelligence and espionage. Penetration.
posted by Unknown at 8:06 AM
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