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    Council Member bourbon's Avatar
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    Default Israel & intelligence (merged thread)

    Mods Notice

    This thread was created today from five separate threads and renamed. Given the significance of 'The Gatekeepers' documentary in 2013, I have copied most of the relevant posts - nineteen of them - to here.

    This thread should be read alongside Watching the IDF (catch all) in particular (ends).


    The Spy Who Loves Us: Pay no mind to the Mossad agent on the line, by Philip Giraldi. The American Conservative, June 2, 2008.

    Everything you want to know about Israeli espionage in The United States but were afraid to ask. Well not everything, but a very insightful if not controversial article by Phil Giraldi. This article is not by a mere journalist either, Giraldi served sixteen years in the DO.

    Whether the movers and the art students had jointly pieced together enough information to provide a preview of 9/11 remains hidden in intelligence files in Tel Aviv, but the proximity of both groups to 15 of the hijackers in Hollywood, Florida and to five others in northern New Jersey is suggestive.

    Speculation about 9/11 aside, it is certain that Urban Moving was involved in an intelligence-collection operation against Arabs living in the United States, possibly involving electronic surveillance of phone calls and other communications. When they were arrested, the five Israelis working for Urban Moving had multiple passports and nearly $5,000 in cash. They were held for 71 days, failed a number of polygraph exams, and were finally allowed to return to Israel after Tel Aviv admitted that they were Mossad and apologized.

    Between 55 and 95 other Israelis were also arrested in the weeks following 9/11, and a number were reported to be active-duty military personnel. The FBI came under intense pressure from several congressmen and various pro-Israel groups to release the detainees. The order to free them came from Judge Michael Mukasey, now the U.S. attorney general. An FBI investigator noted, “Leads were not fully investigated” due to pressure from “higher echelons.” According to one source, the White House may have made the final decision to terminate the inquiry. Though the investigation could have gone much farther, the FBI identified two of the Weehawken movers as Israeli intelligence officers and confirmed that Urban Moving was a front for Mossad to “spy on local Arabs.” One CIA officer involved in the investigation concluded, “The Israelis likely had a huge spy operation.”
    The movers and art-students issues appears to be consigned to the dustbin of history by the powers that be. I suggest retired international lawyer Gerald Shea's memo (PDF) to the HPSCI and SSCI, which includes the DEA memo in the appendix, for those interested in the matter. As well as Christopher Ketcham's shorter article (PDF) in Counterpunch.
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-23-2015 at 05:05 PM. Reason: Add Mods Notice

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    Council Member Tom Odom's Avatar
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    Given the stakes involved, it would be reasonable for the United States to quietly offer Israel’s leaders a choice. They can continue to receive billions of dollars in aid, or they can persist in spying against their greatest benefactor. They should not be permitted to do both.
    Agreed. But with both presidential candidates seemingly required to go before AIPAC as a validation exercise--AIPAC of course being involved in this espionage--I fear we will continue to pay cash for getting screwed.

    Tom

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    Council Member William F. Owen's Avatar
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    I feel compelled to point out a few things that trickle down from all this stuff.

    a.) There are 740,000 Israeli citizens outside of Israel in any given month. About 40% are in the US. Not all are spies. That's from a population of 6,000,000 plus.

    b.) The allegation that "X is an Israeli and he/she probably works for Mossad" is a very commonly heard allegation, against almost all Israelis travelling/working abroad. My wife is continually accused of working for the Mossad, as are most of her friends and work colleagues, - and so am I.

    c.) The clear implication here is that Israel should not conduct intelligence operations in the US, or against the US. Why so? The UK thinks it's OK to have SIS running around Gaza. I'm know the US has/does conduct Intelligence operations against Israel's national interest - as do a lot of NATO countries. Do we want to argue about who started it?

    To place anything to do with Intelligence in the moral realm is obviously laughable, but for those who do, should we run tallies on how many Israelis have died / are dieing doing stuff for the US in places the US didn't want to go - or vice versa?

    ...and yes you have a legitimate right to be upset that Israel spies on the US, if you are American. If you have to ask "Why would Israel do this," then you clearly don't understand Israelis or Israel.
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    Wilf

    The Israeli lobby has more influence on the American political process than any other single organization in the US. We give Israel over $3B a year in aid.

    There are some very hard feelings towards the Israelis by many people in the US.
    "Speak English! said the Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and what's more, I don't believe you do either!"

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    Council Member William F. Owen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ski View Post
    Wilf

    The Israeli lobby has more influence on the American political process than any other single organization in the US. We give Israel over $3B a year in aid.

    There are some very hard feelings towards the Israelis by many people in the US.
    So they say. If that really is true, (and I'm not saying it isn't) then I'd say there is a problem with US democracy and not a problem with the Jews.

    Money that comes with considerable strings attached. The IDF cannot buy Israeli made equipment with it. It has to buy US. This works against IDF interests and means good cost effective projects don't get funded. I can write a very long list of examples if you want - and in 2006 Israel exported $1 Billion worth of weaponry to the US Government, very little of which the IDF ever gets to see. All the good stuff gets exported. This is set to rise/continue.

    Also you may want to check Israel's record on supporting the US in the UN and a few other forums, versus all the countries the US gives funding to. - and the the anti-US/Western Insurgents who get fed on US Aid around the world!

    plus, unlike most US Allies Israel doesn't expect you to fight for them, so I think those dollars may be well spent in comparison to some.
    Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"

    - The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
    - If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
    Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition

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    Our government is what it is - whether it good for Jews or not is completely irrelevant.

    The money should be shut off today, along with the multiple billions we pony up to Egypt.

    Israel, as far as I am concerned, is just another foreign country. Neutral at best.



    Quote Originally Posted by William F. Owen View Post
    So they say. If that really is true, (and I'm not saying it isn't) then I'd say there is a problem with US democracy and not a problem with the Jews.

    Money that comes with considerable strings attached. The IDF cannot buy Israeli made equipment with it. It has to buy US. This works against IDF interests and means good cost effective projects don't get funded. I can write a very long list of examples if you want - and in 2006 Israel exported $1 Billion worth of weaponry to the US Government, very little of which the IDF ever gets to see. All the good stuff gets exported. This is set to rise/continue.

    Also you may want to check Israel's record on supporting the US in the UN and a few other forums, versus all the countries the US gives funding to. - and the the anti-US/Western Insurgents who get fed on US Aid around the world!

    plus, unlike most US Allies Israel doesn't expect you to fight for them, so I think those dollars may be well spent in comparison to some.
    "Speak English! said the Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and what's more, I don't believe you do either!"

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    Council Member Tom Odom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by William F. Owen View Post
    I feel compelled to point out a few things that trickle down from all this stuff.

    a.) There are 740,000 Israeli citizens outside of Israel in any given month. About 40% are in the US. Not all are spies. That's from a population of 6,000,000 plus.

    b.) The allegation that "X is an Israeli and he/she probably works for Mossad" is a very commonly heard allegation, against almost all Israelis travelling/working abroad. My wife is continually accused of working for the Mossad, as are most of her friends and work colleagues, - and so am I.

    c.) The clear implication here is that Israel should not conduct intelligence operations in the US, or against the US. Why so? The UK thinks it's OK to have SIS running around Gaza. I'm know the US has/does conduct Intelligence operations against Israel's national interest - as do a lot of NATO countries. Do we want to argue about who started it?

    To place anything to do with Intelligence in the moral realm is obviously laughable, but for those who do, should we run tallies on how many Israelis have died / are dieing doing stuff for the US in places the US didn't want to go - or vice versa?

    ...and yes you have a legitimate right to be upset that Israel spies on the US, if you are American. If you have to ask "Why would Israel do this," then you clearly don't understand Israelis or Israel.
    Wilf,

    You may feel compelled to respond but I suggest you go easy. As ususal in such cases, you hyped right away with the implicatioin that the article suggested all Israelis are spies. It did not.

    On Israelis dying for the US. Give me a break.

    On morality and espionage. When Israel funds the US, maybe we can get to the laughable stage. Read Tenet's book concerning Israeli lobbying to get Pollard released. Try looking at technology transfers that I have gone through Israeli industries to China and elsewhere.

    Don't tell me as an American that I have the right to question my own country's foreign policy.

    Thanks

    Tom

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    I generally feel the same way as Monsieur Odom.
    "Speak English! said the Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and what's more, I don't believe you do either!"

    The Eaglet from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Odom View Post
    On morality and espionage. When Israel funds the US, maybe we can get to the laughable stage. Read Tenet's book concerning Israeli lobbying to get Pollard released. Try looking at technology transfers that I have gone through Israeli industries to China and elsewhere.

    Don't tell me as an American that I have the right to question my own country's foreign policy.

    Thanks

    Tom
    I seem to recall that at the time Pollard was arrested there was also a fair amount of pressure to let him off easy.

    On the whole, the American public doesn't expect US allies to spy on us. Perhaps they're naive, but that's the general mindset. So when Israelis get busted doing this it tends to tick off a segment of the population. Perhaps Israelis need to understand that about Americans....
    "On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
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    Council Member William F. Owen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Odom View Post
    Wilf,

    You may feel compelled to respond but I suggest you go easy. As ususal in such cases, you hyped right away with the implicatioin that the article suggested all Israelis are spies. It did not.

    On Israelis dying for the US. Give me a break.

    On morality and espionage. When Israel funds the US, maybe we can get to the laughable stage. Read Tenet's book concerning Israeli lobbying to get Pollard released. Try looking at technology transfers that I have gone through Israeli industries to China and elsewhere.

    Don't tell me as an American that I have the right to question my own country's foreign policy.
    Well I thought I did go easy – by my standards.

    a.) …and to that point, I was not hyping. I was merely drawing any reader’s attention to commonly used anti-Israeli slur that was extremely germane to something mentioned in the article.

    b.) You know, as well as I do, that Israel’s intelligence service has strayed way beyond it’s remit, to pursue activities of interest to solely to the US, and this has cost lives, especially in Africa, and few other places far from the Middle-East. I also stated that this was VICE-VERSA. As you are also aware, there are former IDF soldiers serving in the US forces in Iraq, and former US Soldiers plus US citizens serving in the IDF.

    c.) The assumption that US funding of Israel (and a lot of other countries as well) should make the US immune to the alleged activities that Israel clearly believes critical to its own interest, even at great risk to US-Israel relationship should tell you something.

    d.) I am extremely well aware of the alleged technology transfer issues, by virtue of actually knowing some the folks who fell foul of the Phalcon Project and a few others things. I think our understanding of the facts may differ widely as they would in relation to Project Lavi, the Korean AEW program, and many Israeli defence projects damaged by US “diplomatic” pressure.

    e.) I was not aware that I had told you that you had any rights. I merely said (implied) that if I was a US citizen, I’d be a little outraged at Israel’s behavior. I spend a lot of my time strongly criticizing Israel, but I do it in Israel and with Israelis!
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    - The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
    - If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
    Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition

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    Council Member Tom Odom's Avatar
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    and yes you have a legitimate right to be upset that Israel spies on the US, if you are American. If you have to ask "Why would Israel do this," then you clearly don't understand Israelis or Israel.
    So much for your disclaimer "I was not aware that I had told you that you had any rights." As for understanding Israelis, we will have to disagree on that.

    b.) You know, as well as I do, that Israel’s intelligence service has strayed way beyond it’s remit, to pursue activities of interest to solely to the US, and this has cost lives, especially in Africa, and few other places far from the Middle-East. I also stated that this was VICE-VERSA. As you are also aware, there are former IDF soldiers serving in the US forces in Iraq, and former US Soldiers plus US citizens serving in the IDF.
    I know that Israeli intelligence has gone far abroad. In those cases whee you imply such efforts were at the US behest, I would say the Israel was pursuing its own interests. That is your defense of Israeli espionage efforts in the US is it not?

    As for dual citizens that would be an individual choice.

    The assumption that US funding of Israel (and a lot of other countries as well) should make the US immune to the alleged activities that Israel clearly believes critical to its own interest, even at great risk to US-Israel relationship should tell you something.
    It does. Simply that Israel pursues its own policies and ends. Period. From that it means that evaluation the relationship in that light. As for funding other countries--no country gets more funding from the US than Israel. That too should be evaluated.

    I am extremely well aware of the alleged technology transfer issues, by virtue of actually knowing some the folks who fell foul of the Phalcon Project and a few others things. I think our understanding of the facts may differ widely as they would in relation to Project Lavi, the Korean AEW program, and many Israeli defence projects damaged by US “diplomatic” pressure.
    Use of alleged is out of place. As for the Lavi, I was in Israel when we the US said enough and watched the buses bring in the demonstrators. As for damage to Israeli denese projects, Wilf we fund a lot of them. As in the case of the Lavi, that funding was cut off for a lot of reasons.

    Tom

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    Council Member bourbon's Avatar
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    Default Israeli Hit Squad? Dubai Police Issue International Warrants

    Israeli Hit Squad? Dubai Police Issue International Warrants: 11-Person Team Used Disguises, Fake European Passports in Plot To Kill Top Hamas Leader, by Lara Setrakian and Brian Ross. ABC News, Feb. 16, 2010.
    All signs point to an Israeli hit squad, using fake passports and elaborate disguises, in the assassination of a top Hamas leader in a Dubai hotel room, according to current and former intelligence officials.

    Police in Dubai have issued international arrest warrants for eleven people wanted in the murder of Mahmoud al Mabhouh, a Hamas military commander, who was found dead in his room at the five-star Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai.

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    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    Trade craft?
    They must have figured the exposure from the cctv into their calculus, right? Perhaps they decided it was still worth it, and that it would send a message to the enemy. Deniability wouldn’t have been much of a factor then.

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    The video the Dubai police put together is pretty amazing.

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    If Israeli secret services did this (and they must be top of the list of suspects right now), then this is exceptionally stupid. It reeks of arrogance AND stupidity. What message could be worth this kind of nonsense? Israel may have the self-image of a superpower, but its still a relatively small country and its protectors are not going to take infinite pains for its sake...this seems very stupid to me.

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    Default The Mossad's "False Flag" operations

    A series of CIA memos describes how Israeli Mossad agents posed as American spies to recruit members of the terrorist organization Jundallah to fight their covert war against Iran.
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article.../13/false_flag

    The CIA took an internal poll not long ago about friendly foreign intelligence agencies. The question, mostly directed to employees of the clandestine service branch, was: Which are the best allies among friendly spy services, in terms of liaison with the CIA, and which are the worst? In other words, who acts like, well, friends?

    “Israel came in dead last,” a recently retired CIA official told me the other day.
    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/spy...g_us_musl.html
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    Glad to see this topic getting some air time as the election approaches. I'm getting tired of uninformed politicians making claims about how important our relationship with Israel our great ally is, when they should be discussing how dangerous it is and better define that relationship. They can easily drag us into a conflict with these false flag acts. This particular example is the tip of the ice berg.

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    F*@k, those f*@king f*@kers. I am sure American’s have been killed as a result of this.

    Bob Baer said Jundallah were uncontrollable, so we cut things off with them. Whackos too focused on blowing themselves up to receive any real outside support and tasking; which makes you wonder what the hell the Israeli’s need them for. It sure as hell undermines our efforts to engage with Iran on anything, which is certainly an indirect benefit - if not the intent of this operation.

    With “friends” like Israel, who needs enemies?
    “[S]omething in his tone now reminded her of his explanations of asymmetric warfare, a topic in which he had a keen and abiding interest. She remembered him telling her how terrorism was almost exclusively about branding, but only slightly less so about the psychology of lotteries…” - Zero History, William Gibson

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    Quote Originally Posted by bourbon View Post
    With “friends” like Israel, who needs enemies?
    Sometimes you get what you deserve.

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