Category Archives: Israel

Bulgaria was the target

It was almost comical how fast Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned Iran for the recent bombing in Burgas. Two days ago Netanyahu made the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows, telling anyone who would listen that Iran is engaged in a global terror campaign against the Jewish state. Of course when pressed for facts on this outrageous charge Netanyahu was at a lose for words. He simply repeated the claim that it was Iran and Hezbollah who were responsible. On Face the Nation Netanyahu made the erroneous claim that Iran had assassinated diplomats. This is patently false, it simply never happened. Perhaps Netanyhau is referring to the trumped up charges against a two time loser Manssor Arabsiar. People will remember Arabsiar as the bankrupt used car salesman who the great and powerful terrorist state Iran employed a year ago for an assassination plot. He was to hire the narco trafficking super group Los Zetas to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States with a bomb in a crowded D.C. restaurant. If this sounds like bad spy fiction that is because it is fiction. Netanyahu comes from the political school of thought that believes by simply stating something as fact over and over again enough people will start to believe it to be true.
Israel’s insane desire for war with Iran has led the government there to blame any terrorist threat or attack on the Islamic Republic. After 9/11 Israel tried in vain to convince America that Iran was behind the attack that killed 3,000 Americans. Israel will exploit any terrorist threat or attack if it provides justification for attacking Iran. Of course this detracts from the possibly real threats faced by Sunni extremist groups. The Burgas bombing is an excellent example of this detraction. While it may surprise many, Bulgaria’s foreign policy has been moving it into a position that puts it in direct conflict with Al Qaeda and similar Sunni extremist groups. In 2010 extremist group Asbat al Ansar, who’s links to Al Qaeda have landed it on the U.S. terror list, proclaimed that Bulgaria was a target due to its involvement in both the Iraq and Afghan wars. So the Burgas bombing raises the question, what if the Bulgarian state was the real target? If this proves to be true than the real culprit of the bombing is still at large. Netanyahu will let the real perpetrators walk free so he can bomb Iran back to the stone age. If it is Al Qaeda or one of their franchise groups, they may very well be planning another attack on a western target.

With talk of war with Iran becoming so common place, now is the time for clarity. While many may be salivating over the thought of taking down the Islamic Republic this is not something that should be taken lightly. Before we jump into another war with a Muslim nation we should know the facts. Netanyahu is not the purveyor of truth.

Netanyahu worked in nuclear smuggling ring

The below piece was written by the great Grant F. Smith.  It is an original piece written for Antiwar.com. For more on Grant Smith visit the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy

 

On June 27, 2012, the FBI partially declassified and released seven additional pages [.pdf] from a 1985–2002 investigation into how a network of front companies connected to the Israeli Ministry of Defense illegally smuggled nuclear triggers out of the U.S.* The newly released FBI files detail how Richard Kelly Smyth — who was convicted of running a U.S. front company — met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel during the smuggling operation. At that time, Netanyahu worked at the Israeli node of the smuggling network, Heli Trading Company. Netanyahu, who currently serves as Israel’s prime minister, recently issued a gag order that the smuggling network’s unindicted ringleader refrain from discussing “Project Pinto.”

As revealed in previously released FBI files and the tell-all book Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, the Hollywood producer was recruited into Israel’s economic espionage division (LAKAM) in his 20s and learned how to establish front companies and secret bank accounts for smuggling operations. Arnon Milchan encouraged Smyth, a California engineer, to incorporate MILCO in 1972 and serve as a front for the Israel-based Heli Trading’s (also known as Milchan Limited) acquisitions of sensitive military technologies on behalf of the Ministry of Defense. Smyth fled the U.S. after being indicted for violating the Arms Export Control Act in the mid-1980s. In July 2001, Smyth was arrested in Spain by Interpol and returned to the U.S., and in November, he was convicted of exporting 800 nuclear triggers (called krytrons).

FBI agents interviewed Smyth on April 16-17, 2002, at the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. The secret interview report details how during a trip to Israel Smyth was “spotted” by Milchan, who claimed he worked as an exclusive purchasing agent for the Ministry of Defense. Smyth was introduced around to high military officials including then-general Ariel Sharon. Smyth was also put in contact with Benjamin Netanyahu, who worked at Heli Trading Company. According to the FBI report, “Smyth and [Netanyahu] would meet in restaurants in Tel Aviv and in [Netanyahu’s] home and/or business. It was not uncommon for [Netanyahu] to ask Smyth for unclassified material.”

Milchan pulled Smyth into his glamorous, star-studded movie circuit. “While in the United States [Smyth] met with [Milchan] numerous times in Los Angeles. … Milchan and Smyth would have dinner frequently and would visit one another’s house often … it was quite common for [Milchan] to invite [Smyth] to various Hollywood parties and introduce [Smyth] to celebrities.”

During the 2002 Smyth counterintelligence debriefing, the FBI learned that the Ministry of Defense ordered and paid Heli Trading for krytrons. Heli in turn sourced them from MILCO in a clandestine operation codenamed Project Pinto. The report reveals how MILCO illegally shipped prohibited articles under general Commerce Department export licenses rather than smuggling them out via Israeli diplomatic pouches. The last time Smyth saw Milchan was in 1985. The Ministry of Defense issued a burn notice on Smyth after discussions with U.S. officials about the krytron smuggling. According to the FBI report, “Shortly thereafter, [Smyth] fled the United States.”

A March 2012 statement by the co-authors of Confidential claims that “Hollywood mega-producer and former secret agent Arnon Milchan has been asked directly by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres to avoid any public discussion of the book Confidential, asserting that the matter is too sensitive at this time.” Although the book’s authors point to the escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, Netanyahu’s own hands-on involvement in nuclear weapons–related covert action against America is presumably a far more compelling reason for the gag order.

* The FBI referred an additional 164 pages of the Mandatory Declassification Review to another government agency — presumably the CIA — for further review. The additional pages will likely never be released. The CIA has refused requests for similar documents in order to preserve intelligence sources and methods abroad.

Israel’s chickens come home to roost in Bulgaria

A bus carrying several Israeli tourists was blown up in Bulgaria today. Israel was quick to blame Iran for the bombing, with PM Netanyahu saying “Iran is responsible for the terror attack in Bulgaria, we will have a strong response against Iranian terror.” The attack comes on the heels of the arrest of a Lebanese man accused of ties with Hezbollah, and of planning an attack against Israelis. What are we to make of this?
Iran may very well be behind this bombing. The narrative developing though misses out on a very important fact; Israel has been doing the same thing. Israel’s policy of assassinating civilian Iranian scientists is no doubt the reason for this recent bombing. Israel is not some poor defenseless country being targeted by Iran. On the contrary, this is a direct result of their very public assassination policy of CIVILIAN scientists in Iran. I emphasis civilian only to make the point that both the scientists and tourists are innocent pawns being used in a high stakes game of international chess. Don’t get sucked into the western media narrative that this bombing is some heinous act of violence. The bombing demonstrates Netanyahu and Barak’s lack of thought in regards to their own war against Iran. This is an aspect that is also lost on the United States. Does the West really think that Iran will just sit idly by while their own people people are blown up in the streets of Tehran? The bombing today illustrates that Iran is just as capable of hitting back after they are hit. Netanyahu does not care about his own people. If he did than he would not callously order the murder of scientists in Iran. This is a classic example of “blowback.” Now these innocent Israeli civilians will be exploited by Israel as a pretext for more overt warfare against Iran. They will be become martyrs for Israel; their deaths being used to justify more deaths. It may be a bit cynical, but this is exactly what Netanyahu has been waiting for. The hawkish warmonger has been itching for a reason to escalate the war against Iran. A war one might add, that was started when the US began sanctions, and Israel started killing civilian scientists.

Shin Bet arrests Israeli Druze in the Golan Heights

Dr. Eyad Jamil al-Jawhari was arrested by the Shin Bet on June 29.  Dr. al-Jawhari an Israeli citizen who lives in the occupied Golan Heights.  He was currently finishing up a degree in Syria, and has for some time been going back and fourth between Syria and Golan.  This story has not been reported in the Israeli media due to a gag order by the Shin Bet.  Israel frequently uses these gag orders to prevent the media from reporting on story’s that might make Israel look bad.  The gag also ensures that the Shin Bet don’t have to explain anything about why Dr. al-Jawhari was arrested.

As a result of the gag order we are only left with to speculate as to why the Shin Bet picked up al-Jawhari.  The most plausible reason is that the Shin Bet wants to get anything and everything it can on the civil war in Syria.  Shin Bet either wants to interrogate him about anything he may know, or wants to try and use him as an intelligence source inside Syria.

The fact remains though that al-Jawhari hold an Israeli ID, which in theory allows him the same rights as any citizen in Israel.  It will be a cold day in hell before you see the Shin Bet arrest an Israeli citizen and hold them incommunicado.  While the Israeli public may be able to justify these sorts of actions, the fact remains that this is not how a democratic state operates.  The Shin Bet have a long history of torturing prisoners while in custody.  There is no telling what al-Jawhari faces while in the control of the Shin Bet.  Due to the heinous laws in Israel dealing with imprisonment of enemies of the state, Dr. al-Jawhari could face a life time in prison.  These sorts of incidents must be reported on in Israel.  If they are not, then a cycle of human rights violations and impunity for those committing them will never come to an end.

To keep up to date on this story please check out Richard Silverstein’s website Tikun Olam.