Israel denies US spy work

[cal04]

ISRAEL today "unequivocally" denied allegations it was engaged in any kind of intelligence gathering in the United States following the indictment of a Pentagon analyst on charges of passing classified information to a pro-Israel lobby group.

"The question is: is Israel carrying out intelligence-gathering in the United States? The answer is: absolutely not," Labour MP Efraim Sneh, who heads the parliamentary subcommittee for security affairs, said. "Israel meticulously abstains from all intelligence-gathering in the United States. I am saying this unequivocally," he said in an interview with army radio.

"This started as policy in the wake of the Pollard affair and everyone has rigorously stuck to this," he added, referring to Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish American who was jailed for life in 1987 in the United States on charges of spying for Israel. Yesterday, a US court indicted Lawrence Franklin, who worked on the Pentagon's Iran desk, on four counts of communicating national defence information to persons not entitled or authorised to receive it, and two counts of conspiracy.


According to the indictment, Franklin allegedly divulged classified information about an unnamed Middle Eastern country to two employees of a Washington lobbying firm, a foreign diplomat and another person associated with that country's intelligence service. The indictment gives no names other than Franklin's, but officials had previously identified the lobbying firm as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The indictment did not say what country the diplomat was from. Israel denied any involvement in the case after Franklin's arrest in May.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15611628%255E1702,00.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. Oh no

our 'friends' would never do a thing like that. Yeah, right. If you believe this story, then I've got some swamp land in FL I'd like to sell to you.

[Roland99]

2. Nah...the PNAC and Likud and Mossad and CIA have no links at all

Nope...we didn't invade Iraq partially at the request of Israel to the PNAC.

Nahhh.



It's all an illusion.

[dr.zoidberg]

6. Heh, heh, heh...

Knowing Israel's past, they probably would have performed a preemptive strike on Iraq. Of course, not all preemptive strikes are bad when you consider the circumstances. Of course, the most important thing about a preemptive strike is winning. Because in the long run, winning erases most complaints.

[reality based]

3. I didn't realize there had been an indictment

I guess the former MSM is waiting to see if there is a pretty white runaway involved. Do you think Nancy Grace will cover it?

[Monkie]

4. not about spying!This is Pentagon's OSP and fixing Iraq&Iran Intelligence

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer&cid=1093674510896&p=1078113566627

"The FBI's investigation of Larry Franklin began not long after it was leaked that the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans sent two Defense officials, one of them Franklin, to Paris to meet with a dissident Iranian arms trader.

The latter, Manucher Ghorbanifar, played a central role in the Iran-Contra affair – in which Israel had a major involvement – in the mid 1980's."

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=8467

"They were extraordinarily well-informed; it was apparent they've been at this for awhile," Green says. "I asked them if there was a current reason for them asking questions about things that go back over 30 years, and they sort of looked at each other and said, 'Yes, it's a present issue,' but wouldn't say specifically what. Though they did ask very specific questions about one individual in particular."

Green said the agents asked about several current or former Pentagon officials such as Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Michael Ledeen, and Stephen Bryen."

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=8764

"At the time the CBS report aired in late August -- incidentally, on the Friday evening before the opening of the Republican national convention -- custody of the Franklin investigation was being transferred from the head of the FBI counterintelligence unit, David Szady, to U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, a Bush appointee, in Alexandria, Virginia, as the case moved to the grand-jury phase.

And then, in mid-September, news of the Franklin investigation went dark."

"In other words, is the Franklin case really about espionage, or is it a glimpse into the ugly sausage-making process by which Middle East policy gets decided in Washington and, in particular, in the Bush administration?"

this case goes is all about the Iraq war and the wish for a war in Iran and may even connect to what sibel edmunds is (not) talking about

[Frederik]

7. Thanks for the links

You're right about that, this is a glimpse into the "fixing intelligence around the policy", more than it is about espionage. Everyone knows Israel spies on America through organizations such as AIPAC, that's hardly news.

[moggie]

5. That's alright then

I always believe what spies say: you can rely on them to always tell the truth.:eyes: