NEW ORLEANS, Louisian, 5 September 2004 — Some Arab leaders have nerve, blaming “Zionists” for problems in the Middle East. “We can be certain Zionism is behind everything,” one of them averred last June. “I don’t say 100 percent, but 95 percent.”
“I just can’t understand it,” Chas Freeman, George Bush Sr.’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, sighs. They “deny reality and live in a dream world,” scolds New York’s Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer.
“Inflammatory and irresponsible!” squawks Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
But last week, Zionism appeared indeed to be “behind” America’s Iraq war and strongly figuring in stern US policy statements promising belligerence toward Iran.
The FBI’s investigation into whether Lawrence Franklin, the Pentagon’s top Iran policy analyst described by the LA Times as that ‘’go-to guy for Wolfowitz and Feith,” passed classified information to Israeli Intelligence agents, makes these American politicos’ protests sound like the “Casablanca” scene where Nazi Maj. Strasser punishes café patrons singing the Marseillaise by making French Prefect Capt. Renault find a reason to shut it down:
Renault: “I am shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on here!”
Croupier: “Your winnings, sir.”
Renault: “Oh, thank you very much.” ( Turns to crowd again).
“Everybody out at once!”
Hypocrisy is the operative word.
American politicos know this. AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), Washington, D.C.’s most powerful lobby, seeks close ties with virtually every American politician, pundit, and policy maker, from the highest to the lowest, through churning the Jewish vote, providing opportunities for campaign funding and publicity, sponsoring think-tank extravaganzas, trips to Israel, and lucrative lunches such as the one the FBI reportedly observed two AIPAC officers enjoying with Franklin. Allegedly, Franklin helpfully provided these AIPAC officials with a sensitive report about US policy toward Iran, along with other materials. And this was not the first time.
By the Mossad’s own admission, Franklin met regularly with Israeli intelligence officials to talk about, uhm secret stuff. “It’s clear that when we get together,” former Mossad officer Uzi Arad admitted regarding his meetings with Franklin, “we don’t talk about the Olympics.”
This, Israel’s Mossad publicly insists, is just democracy. “Our two countries have open relations; collegial relations,” Arad explained.
As Israel explains the Franklin fiasco, it’s not “spying.” It’s more like “sharing.”
That’s what friends do.
Besides, the Israelis quickly and repeatedly point out, Franklin is not Jewish.
But is that the test?
No, it’s not. In fact, as Israeli intelligence expert Yossi Melman helpfully explained in Haaretz, Israeli intelligence agencies are under orders not to employ Jews for espionage in foreign countries for fear of adversely impacting local Jewish communities should their spying be uncovered.
So Israelis look not for Jewish people. Instead, they seek out foreign, non-Jewish citizens whose main, or greater, loyalties are nevertheless with Israel, and with the Zionism that has so come to represent Judaism, at least in America. They look for “friends of Israel,” as AIPAC fondly calls its cultivated US governmental “contacts.” And those independents who question any aspect of Israeli policy or US governmental policy toward Israel, no matter how minutely, are instantly labeled “anti-Semites’ and even “Enemies of Israel.”
You may be an American, but to Israel, you’re either friend or foe.
“We have very good, excellent working relations with the Americans, and we are very discreet about it,” remarked a senior Israeli Defense official in The Jerusalem Post.
“Discreet?”
Yes, discreet. Because if average Americans knew how enormously influenced their politicians are by Israel, they might start demanding that their government put US interests first.
And when one has friends in high places, low places, and in every place, one doesn’t need spies. “There is no need to operate spies in the Pentagon or anywhere else in the United States,” explained the Israeli Defense Department official.
Well, that sounds true enough. According to the LA Times, Franklin was too stupid to realize he was spying for Israel. “From everything I’ve seen,’ said the unidentified US official the newspaper quoted, “the guy’s not a spy. The guy’s an idiot.”
But an idiotic friend of Israel is still a friend, indeed. And friendship can be constantly tested. News reports indicate that the FBI’s Pentagon probe goes well beyond a single person, incident, or document, although the one Franklin supposedly passed to the Israelis is thought to have been a top-secret presidential order on Iran policy, known as a National Security Presidential Directive.
Gosh, that sounds like a good thing to have if you’re Israel, and you believe Iran to be your biggest enemy now that Iraq has been bombed senseless. Such a document would allow AIPAC and other Israeli officials to influence US policy while it was still being made.
American politicos now claim they are “shocked, shocked, to find that spying is going on here!” And while one hand collects AIPAC’s largess, the other shoos the questioning crowd.
Arab leaders obviously know a thing or two, after all.
— Sarah Whalen is an expert in Islamic law and taught law at Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana.
