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Thursday, May 05, 2005
A Break in Intelligence Touches AIPAC for the First Time
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A Break in Intelligence Touches AIPAC for the First Time
by Eugene Bird
For the third time in the past twenty years, the FBI has uncovered an intelligence operation in the United States connected with the State of Israel. In the early 1980s a staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee chaired by Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson (D-WA) was observed passing classified information from closed Senate hearings to an Israeli intelligence officer.
And then there was the famous Pollard case, in which the Embassy of Israel arranged to copy a roomful classified documents that Jonathan Pollard, a naval intelligence analyst, had pilfered from his workplace in Maryland. It may have been the single greatest single espionage case in U.S. history. Pollard remains in prison, despite periodic pleas from Israeli officials to release him.
Now we have the case of Larry Franklin, a Pentagon analyst on Iran. After a three year investigation that for the first time involved the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Franklin was arrested yesterday. His lawyer says he will plead "not guilty" to charges that he passed classified information related to the Iraq war to two Amercans, presumed to be Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, former officials at AIPAC. The three met for lunch in Arlington, Virginia, on June 26, 2003, where Franklin is reported to have orally passed the "top secret" information. Rosen and Weissman were placed on administrative leave earlier this year and then fired after four other AIPAC officials were called before a grand jury in late January or early February.
For the first time since the Pollard case, an official at the Israeli Embassy, Naor Gilon, a political adviser, has also been named in press reports as being involved.
In the complaint, special agent Catherine Hanna said, "The information Franklin disclosed relating to potential attacks upon U.S. forces in Iraq could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign government."
It is hard to evaluate the damage to AIPAC from these revelations. However, there has been an immediate denial of everything by AIPAC and the Israeli foreign ministry.
There are several possible outcomes from Franklin's arrest: one would involve a plea bargain by Franklin, who faces 10 years in prison, if he agrees to testify against Weismann and Rosen or the Israeli Embassy official. Another is that the whole matter will be swept under the rug, just as it was in the first case, almost twenty years ago. Third, Franklin could be convicted, since the FBI has overwhelming evidence, and the matter would be closed without further AIPAC involvement.
Watch for how many senators and congressmen attend the AIPAC conference later this month, at which Ariel Sharon and Condoleezza Rice are featured speakers. Watch also for how U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty does or does not press the charges in the criminal complaint.
All of us should recognize that our "strategic connection" with Israel has a very high price in terms of U.S. security interests in the Middle East. Israel will never stop spying on the U.S., despite all disclaimers to the contrary. This espionage will inevitably result in periodic criminal complaints or indictments and the removal of officials directly connected, but they will be replaced by other officers and further intelligence operations.
AIPAC should clearly be registered as the agent of a foreign government and be asked to divulge its list of contributors and its close ties directly with the Israeli government.
posted by Somebody @ 8:50 PM Permanent Link
 
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