FBI spent years investigating AIPAC
Based on a 27-page document that is still under court seal, Eli Lake reports that the FBI spent years investigating AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the pre-eminent pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, partly out of suspicion that there was a second Jonathan Pollard who had spied on the United States.Another factor that has led counterintelligence officials to suspect Israeli intelligence-gathering is the case of Jonathan Pollard, who sold U.S. secrets to the Israelis while he served as a Navy intelligence analyst 25 years ago. He is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in North Carolina.It's a fascinating story and you should read the whole thing. The bottom line is that the FBI spent a lot of time, money and resources investigating AIPAC, and all they had to show for it is a plea bargain with someone they used for a sting operation.
This month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a public plea for Pollard's release before the Knesset, Israel's parliament. U.S. Jewish organizations on the same day signed a letter, along with other religious leaders, asking that Pollard, 56, be released.
Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the scrutiny of Mr. Rosen reflects the belief among some in the intelligence community that Pollard must have worked with someone else, because much of the intelligence he stole was not related to his areas of expertise.
"I believe this goes back to this notion that there was a second Pollard and it was bigger than Pollard," Mr. Foxman said. "I am not sure that to this day they have given up this fantasy notion. I would rather they pursue this, come up with nothing, rather than not be given the opportunity to pursue it and saying, 'if only they let us, we would find something.'"
Mr. Revell said the U.S. government had a "rather vigorous discussion with the Israelis" after the Pollard arrest. He added that he considers the Pollard affair to be a "one-off" event and not part of a pattern of Israelis recruiting Americans. He also said there were no ties that turned up connecting Pollard to pro-Israel groups such as AIPAC.
"We do not consider the Israelis a national security threat to the United States," Mr. Revell said. "What we do want to do is to make sure that some individual entities or individuals do not become overzealous, that in their desire to help Israel do not cross the line and take actions that are detrimental to U.S. security or intelligence."
Labels: AIPAC, Eli Lake, Jonathan Pollard, Larry Franklin, Steve Rosen
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:45 PM
1 Comments:
FBI surveillance of AIPAC but not the five year campaign w/searches by warrant were known since the blow-by-blow of Franklin's pursuit at the time--the FBI's counterintelligence chiefs and the anti-Israel/Jewish paranoia brigade shard/share the AIPAC/Jewish mole meme. At the end the FBI demanded Franklin bring Rosen a story too good to pass up--about Iranian agents targeting Americans and Israelis--and Rosen bit and tried to get it published--like countless other leakers. Rosen gets cut loose by AIPAC and the charge gets thrown out.
But activities considered innocuous for the Arab and Islamic lobby are considered dangerous or treasonous if identically performed by AIPAC for many and guys like FBI counterintelpro Revell will continue to put a thousand and one nights sinister sheen to grey area activities.
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