You won't believe who's helping in the search for Ron Arad
It's been nearly thirty years since Israeli navigator Ron Arad was shot down over Lebanon, taken hostage, apparently murdered and 'disappeared.' Now,
Iran and Hezbullah have expressed an interest in solving the mystery of Arad's whereabouts.
According to a report by Yediot Ahronot, over the past year,
Israel has been in contact with Hezbollah, via a Western intermediary,
in an effort to finally solve the mystery of Arad’s fate.
The Shi’ite terror group reportedly expressed optimism regarding the
prospects of uncovering the details of Arad’s captivity, noting progress
in recent months. They added, however, that locating Arad’s remains has
been hampered by changes over the years to the landscape.
“They [the sources within Hezbollah] said that the land in the area
where Arad was buried has moved and been changed since it happened [his
burial].”
“They’re continuing their efforts and are confident that they will succeed in the end to locate his grave.”
Aside from Hezbollah, Israeli investigators have also received –
again, via a Western intermediary – cooperation from Iranian officials.
Dr. Ronen Bergman explained Iran’s interest in solving the Arad
mystery, writing that the Islamic regime has sought clues regarding its
own captives – four Iranian diplomats who disappeared in Lebanon in
1982. The Iranian regime had accused Israel of being behind the
abduction of the four, and claimed they were still alive in Israeli
captivity.
In 2004, Israel revealed to Iran – through German negotiators, who
passed the material on to Hezbollah – information regarding the
kidnapping, torture, and execution of the four diplomats by members of a
Phalangist Christian militia. Despite the revelation, says, Bergman,
Iranian officials have sought additional details of the abductions and
the location of the four.
In 2005 and 2006, Hezbollah officials ramped up their efforts to
gather details on the Arad’s abduction, contacting Iran’s Revolutionary
Guard and Lebanon’s intel agencies.
Hezbollah also conducted digs around possible burial sites, revealing
human remains which were then forwarded to Israel for DNA testing. In
each case, however, the results were negative.
But the Iranians may well know where Arad's remains are.
Amir Teherani, An Iranian journalist living abroad with ties to some
factions within the Iranian government, claimed the chairman of the
Iranian parliament has offered to finally settle accounts regarding Ron
Arad and the missing Iranian officials, proposing a swap of the remains.
Teherani added that in May, Israeli and Iranian representatives held
extensive negotiations in Cyprus. Senior Israeli and Iranian officials,
he claimed, took part in the talks.
...
In the late 1980s Arad was handed over to Hezbollah, before being
transferred to Iranian forces. By the mid-1990s Arad, reportedly
suffering from an illness, was refused medical treatment, and died in
captivity. Israeli investigators believed Arad death occurred sometime
between 1993 – after the last sign of life was produced – and 1997.
It would only be decent for Arad's family to have closure.
Labels: Hezbullah, Iran, Lebanon, Ron Arad
Report: Mystery of Ron Arad's disappearance to be resolved soon - UPDATED
The Kuwaiti newspaper
A-Siyassah is reporting that two mysteries will be resolved in the near future. One is the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut in 1982. The other is the fate of Israeli Air Force Navigator
Ron Arad. Arad was captured in Lebanon after ejecting from his Phantom jet in 1986, and has been
missing ever since (link in Hebrew).
The report is based on 'western intelligence sources' and has not been officially confirmed. It says that both mysteries will be resolved 'in an incontrovertible manner.'
In 2009, Israeli intelligence said that it believed that Arad had
died in Lebanon in the mid-90's.
A-Siyassah has
reported about Arad before.
What makes this report plausible is the fact that the West has had someone connected to both incidents under its control for six years now: Iranian defector
Ali Reza Asgari.
Hmmm.
UPDATE 8:20 PM
JPost reports that the two mysteries are connected - it's an
exchange of information.
Al-Siyasa reported that the deal became possible due to new
information on Arad given to Western intelligence officials by Hussein
Musawi, the brother of one of the four missing Iranian diplomats.
A former Iranian Foreign Ministry official, Musawi is believed to be one of the few people who know the fate of Arad.
In
an interesting twist, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a
speech on Monday that the group had to deal with the missing persons,
including the four Iranian diplomats.
"There are 17 thousand
missing persons due to the Israeli occupation, including the four
Iranian diplomats along with other people during the Lebanese war," he
said.
Bigger hmmmm.
Labels: Beirut, Hezbullah, IAF, Iran, Lebanon, Ron Arad
Ron Arad negotiator says Shalit deal should be rejected
A senior defense official who was involved in negotiations for the release of Ron Arad, an IDF navigator who was shot down over Lebanon 25 years ago on Sunday, says that the deal to release kidnapped IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 'Palestinian' terrorists,
should be rejected.
"Not a day goes by in which I don't think about Ron Arad, especially during these days. I think to myself what have I not done that could have been done to bring him home. But when I look at the future, which could bring about major problems, I think the (Shalit) deal should have been rejected even if his fate would be similar to that of Ron Arad."
The above conclusion was made by a senior defense official who was involved in the state's missing and captive soldiers issue for an extended period of time and had a central role in the contacts to secure the release of captive IAF navigator Ron Arad.
...
"We could have paid the price back then and maybe Ron Arad would have come home," he says. "When Yitzhak Rabin believed that Amal's price should have been questioned, I thought we should have accepted the offer and pay the price."
However, in the years that passed, the senior official changed his mind. "Today I have much experience from other deals I have been involved in, and perhaps Rabin was right because reality led to kidnappings and more extortion. One thing's for sure – we should have changed the rules back then – to determine an unequivocal, uncompromising position and then perhaps we would not be where we are today."
Indeed. But why let reality intrude on a real 'negotiation'?
Labels: Gilad Shalit, Ron Arad, terrorists for Gilad trade
Iran involved in Shalit, Arad negotiations
A document released by Wikileaks discloses that a British rabbi met at Israeli's request with a brother of a military adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khameni to attempt to win the release of captured IDF soldiers
Ron Arad (pictured) and Gilad Shalit.
A cable sent from the US embassy in London to the State Department in 2009 and published by WikiLeaks suggests that London rabbi Herschel Gluck met with an Iranian representative at Israel's request and discussed the fate of the Israeli soldiers.
Gluck recently told Britain's The Independent newspaper that in publishing the cables, WikiLeaks had placed the Iranian man's life in danger.
The cable describes "periodic private meetings" between Gluck and Ayatollah Syed Salman Safavi, brother of the military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Gluck described the talks as "fruitful" but refused to confirm the contents of the cable suggesting he worked for the Israeli embassy in London. He did note that Tehran was aware of the contacts.
In response to a query from Rabbi Gluck about Shalit, Ayatollah Safavi was reported to have "reacted furiously, referencing numerous recent Palestinian deaths in Gaza and saying 'there can be no agreement after Gaza'," The Independent reported.
The rabbi noted the outburst "was the most negative he had ever seen Safavi in their multi-year relationship, but that this may well be posturing for negotiating purposes".
Gluck told the paper that the cable jeopardized the two's attempts "to build bridges and find solutions to difficult issues".
Note that the cable was from 2009 and the Prime Minister then was Binyamin Netanyahu. But Bibi is doing nothing to release Gilad Shalit. Just ask Shalit's father Noam.
/sarc
Labels: Ayatollah Ali Khameni, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Shalit, Noam Shalit, Ron Arad
An historic lowpoint for Israel's Supreme Court
In an historic lowpoint for Israel's outrageous Supreme Court, terrorist Mustapha Dirani has been allowed to
sue the State of Israel for NIS 6 million (exchange rate is about NIS 3.45 to the dollar today). In case you don't recognize him, the picture is Ron Arad, and you'll see in a minute why his picture is here (Hat Tip:
Michael P).
The decision was reached by judges Ayala Procaccia and Salim Joubran, against the dissenting opinion of Judge Hanan Meltzer.
Dirani is a Hizbullah terrorist who held downed IAF pilot Ron Arad captive for several years. He was abducted by the IDF as a bargaining chip for Arad – who has been announced dead – and returned to Lebanon in 2004 as part of a swap. The moment he set foot back on Lebanese soil, he announced that he was re-enlisting in Hizbullah to destroy Israel.
He also filed a lawsuit against Israel, for damages he claims he suffered during his imprisonment.
Procaccia rejected the State’s argument that the British law that prevents enemy aliens from suing the state in its own courts applies to the case. Israeli law, she explained, “grants special status to the right to approach the courts and to a person’s basic right to protection of his body and dignity.”
Judge Meltzer dissented, saying that once Dirani returned to Lebanon and went back to activity in a terror organization, his aforesaid right has ceased… abd therefore his motion should be rejected outright.” He added that Dirani is “a bitter enemy of Israel and acts personally, within the Hizbullah organization, to harm the state and sow destruction within it.”
That 2004 swap was in exchange for drug dealer
Elhanan Tannenbaum and three kidnapped IDF soldiers (from the fall of 2000) who were known to be dead. That was one of the worst trades Israel ever made (it ranks up there with the 1985 Ahmed Jibril trade and the 2008
Samir al-Kuntar for two dead bodies trade).
But all hope is not lost. In Israel, the Knesset reigns supreme, and the Knesset can enact a law that circumvents the high court ruling. So far, I have heard no indications that the Knesset will do so (they may not have noticed the ruling - the only place I had seen it until Michael P sent me the link was among the Leftists on Twitter early Tuesday morning), and even if they do, an expanded court can always decide that the Knesset's law is unconstitutional.
Maybe the Arad family can countersue Dirani and dare the court to say that it has no jurisdiction over him.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Mustapha Dirani, Ron Arad, Supreme Court
Arad's freedom could have been bought
One of the headlines in Saturday evening's news in Israel was a claim by a 'former IDF chief of staff' that Ron Arad's freedom could have been bought. Arad (pictured) was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, and while negotiations went on for his freedom for a couple of years, he has not been heard from since 1989. The 'former IDF chief of staff' was
Dan Halutz, the failure who was chief of staff during the Second Lebanon War, who finally resigned way too late. It was Halutz who decided that the IDF could defeat Hezbullah without ground troops and then proceeded to veto the massive bombing campaign that would have been required to do that. Halutz has recently joined the Kadima party and has been making more public statements as a result.
Israel had the chance to buy the return of missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, former IDF chief Dan Halutz said on Saturday.
"We had the opportunity to pay money in order to buy Arad's freedom but because of national considerations, we decided not to do it," Halutz said while speaking at a cultural event in Be'er Sheva.
Halutz made the reference to Arad in order to opine on the current predicament of freeing kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was snatched by Gaza-militants in 2006 during a cross-border raid.
"Shalit's kidnapping occurred while I was IDF chief and I understand the frustration," Halutz said. "If it had been possible to do something immediately, we would have done it."
Really? Why would Halutz have sent ground troops into Gaza when he wasn't willing to send them into Lebanon when people believed that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were alive three weeks later?
Moreover, the implication of Halutz's statement is that we shouldn't miss the opportunity to free Gilad Shalit like we did with Arad more than twenty years ago. If the deal on the table was for us to pay in cash for Shalit's release, I would have a lot less problems with it. It's the part of about releasing 1,000-1,400 terrorists that has made a lot of Israelis say no. But $1 million in cash? I'd do that deal in a second. But Hamas isn't offering it.
Labels: Dan Halutz, Gilad Shalit, Ron Arad
Iranians claim Ali Reza Asghari being held in Israel
I'm debating which is funnier - that Leftist blogger Richard Silverstein published this unsourced drivel or that the Iranians actually believe it.
I follow a site on Twitter called Tehran bureau, which as far as I can tell takes Iranian news reports and translates them into English. The site is maintained by PBS.
You may recall that Ali Reza Asghari (or Asgari - and sometimes Alireza is spelled as one word) was first
confirmed missing in March 2007, three months after he disappeared from an Istanbul hotel. Asghari wasn't just interesting because of his role in Iran's nuclear program - he was also rumored to have been involved in the 'purchase' of kidnapped IDF navigator
Ron Arad from the Lebanese Shiite Amal party. Arad was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, and Israel lost all contact with him in 1989.
In July 2007, it was reported that Asghari had defected to the United States, and was spilling Iran's nuclear secrets to his debriefers. Asghari is also rumored to have told the United States that Iran was behind the construction of Syria's nuclear weapons facility at al-Kibar that was destroyed - allegedly by Israel - in September 2007.
Leftist wacko blogger Richard Silverstein is now claiming that Asghari is
imprisoned in Israel alongside Rabin assassin Yigal Amir and that Israel is holding him in the hopes of extracting information from him about Ron Arad. Silverstein describes his source as a 'confidential Israeli source' although he '
disclosed' the existence of an Israeli prisoner (other than Yigal Amir) who receives no visitors in June of this past year after it was published in the Hebrew version of Yedioth and then allegedly removed from their website.
The Iranians, who have been claiming all along that Asghari was kidnapped by the Mossad and did not defect, are
eating up Silverstein's theory.
There have been all sorts of speculations about his fate. Yoav Stern of Haaretz asserted on March 5, 2007, that Asgari "may have defected." Two days later, the Jerusalem Post claimed that he had been in Europe and was then taken to the United States. However, Niles Lathem and Oron Dan of the New York Post reported on the same date that U.S. officials denied that he had been transfer there. On March 8, 2007, Dafna Linzer of the Washington Post reported that Asgari was indeed in the United States and willingly cooperating with the CIA. The next day, Lathem reported that Iranian dissidents living in Europe and the United States had helped Asgari to defect. It was claimed, in particular, that Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a former Guard officer in the Quds force who turned against the hardliners and now lives in Europe, had a hand in Asgari's defection.
These reports, however, were countered by others indicating that Asgari was in an Israeli prison. Some Arab diplomats have reportedly said to the media that he was kidnapped by the CIA and/or Mossad. On November 15, 2009, the Associated Press quoted the website Alef -- run by Ahmad Tavakkoli, a Majles deputy from Tehran and cousin of the Larijani brothers -- as saying that Iran believes that Asgari is in Israeli detention.
New information has now emerged. Richard Silverstein, who blogs on Middle Eastern issues, reports that he has received confirmation from a reliable source in Israel that Asgari is indeed incarcerated in Unit 15 of Ayalon prison. Silverstein had already reported on June 13, Earlier today, Yediot Achronot published a story about a Mr. X imprisoned in an Israeli jail. The man was in solitary confinement. His jailers did not know who he was, did not share a word with him, no one came to visit him. No one seemed to know he was there. They didn't even know what crime he had committed or how he came to be in the prison. His prison cell was completely isolated from other prisoners and he couldn't communicate in any way with them.
As Silverstein now explains about the specific location where Asgari is reportedly being held, "This cell in Ayalon's Unit 15 is the same one specially built to hold Yigal Amir, assassin of Yitzhak Rabin. In other words, it is meant to isolate the prisoner from the outside world and the rest of the prison system."
The report still does not clarify the reason for Asgari's disappearance. It could be that he originally defected. The Sunday Times of London claimed that he had been spying for the West since 2003. But no supporting evidence of any sort has ever been presented. If he defected, then why is he in a prison in Israel? It could be that when Israel realized that he had information about the Hezbollah and, in particular, the eventual fate of Ron Arad, the Israeli pilot captured in Lebanon who was never heard from again, he was transferred from the United States or Europe. Or, it could be that he was actually kidnapped.
I personally find it hard to believe that Asgari planned to defect. If he had such a plan, why did he not take his family with him to Turkey? Why has he not called his family for four years? Why is his wife still looking for him, saying that she has never heard from him since December 9, 2006? In addition, it is well known that when Iranians who have held high-ranking government positions retire , they are forbidden from traveling abroad for many years. Given that Asgari was an active Guard officer for a long time and had access to a considerable amount of sensitive information, it is inconceivable that he was allowed to travel to Syria and Turkey, unless he was still working with the government on a secret mission. If so, if he were planning to defect, I find it difficult to believe that the Guard intelligence unit or the Ministry of Intelligence would not have noticed anything unusual about him.
I find this story hard to believe. I recall claims at the time that Asghari had two wives and took the other one with him, so I don't give much credibility to claims made by his 'wife.' Also, given that
Shahram Amiri really did turn out to be in the United States, and apparently disclosed the existence of the Qom facility to the Americans, it makes it far more likely that Asghari was also in the United States. If Asghari was in the United States, I can see the Mossad being allowed to question him, but I find it hard to believe that the CIA would just turn him over to the Mossad, and that the Mossad would be allowed to take him back to Israel and hold him incommunicado. And the labeling of Silverstein's source as a 'confidential Israeli source' (as opposed to - for example - 'a member of the security forces') undercuts that source's credibility. Something doesn't make sense here.
Labels: Ali Reza Asghari, Iranian nuclear program, Richard Silverstein, Ron Arad, Tehran Bureau
