Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying
December 11, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment
American espionage conducted against Israel is hardly news. It is rare, however, that such operations –which are routine in nature– are acknowledged in official histories of intelligence institutions. Yet this is exactly what will happen this coming January, when a new official history of Israel’s intelligence services is published in Israel. Read more of this post
December 5, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment
In September 2007, Israel launched an air attack against Syria, destroying a facility in Al Kibar that both the Israelis and the Americans claimed was a nuclear military installation. Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the US and Israeli allegations. The Israelis now claim that the Syrians have resumed their nuclear program. Read more of this post
December 4, 2008 by intelNews 2 Comments
The usual periodic report is making the rounds today in the world’s news media, suggesting that Israel is working on plans to attack Iran’s nuclear installations. The reports, which are clearly based on controlled leaks by the Israeli Ministry of Defense to friendly media outlets, such as The Jerusalem Post, claim that Israel is prepared to “launch a strike [against Iran] without backing from the US” and is thus “preparing options that do not include coordination” with its American ally. Read more of this post
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Barack Obama, Iran, Israel, Joseph Fitsanakis, nuclear proliferation
December 4, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment
In late October, 2008, thousands of seemingly random telephone subscribers in Syria received strange calls in which an automated message in Arabic asked them for information about missing Israeli soldiers. The recorded message guaranteed the safety of potential tipsters and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the soldiers’ whereabouts. It then prompted them to call a telephone number starting with a British country code. Read more of this post
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Israel, Lebanon, News, Syria, telecommunications, telephony
November 21, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment
Fourteen months ago, Israel launched an air attack against Syria, destroying a facility that both the Israelis and the Americans claimed was a nuclear military installation. When Syria denied the claim, US intelligence officials released visual evidence —some from the interior of the installation— arguing that the bombed building was in fact a plutonium production reactor. After undertaking its own investigation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has now confirmed the US and Israeli allegations that Syria was covertly constructing a nuclear reactor. Interestingly, the IAEA reportedly based its investigation on “other evidence, not on the photos released by Washington”. [JF]
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November 17, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment
The Bush Administration continues to equate dialogue with its perceived enemies with appeasement. Yet even the Israelis are now showing signs of abandoning this policy. Earlier today the head of Israel’s military intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin, stated that he was “not opposed to direct talks between Iran and the United States”, because “dialogue is not appeasement”. He also expressed the elementary diplomatic axiom that the spectacular drop in oil prices has rendered Iran “very susceptible to international pressure”. Yadlin also described Barack Obama’s capture of the US Presidency as having been received “with a sigh of relief in the Middle East, with cautious hope for peace”. So much for hawkish Israeli hardliners who are said to have hijacked US foreign policy toward Iran. [JF]
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Israeli Attorney-General asked to investigate extrajudicial assassinations
December 13, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment
Two Israeli attorneys representing the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel have sent a letter to Israel’s Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, demanding that he launches a criminal investigation into extrajudicial killings of Palestinians by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet. In their letter, the attorneys, Avigdor Feldmand and Michael Sfard, request from Mazuz “to clearly and unconditionally prohibit assassinations when detention is an alternative and to prohibit giving advance approval to harming innocent bystanders”. The letter follows an investigation published last month in Israel’s most prominent newspaper, Ha’aretz, revealing that the IDF routinely assassinate wanted Palestinians in the West bank, even when detention “appears to be a viable alternative”. Read more of this post
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, Hamas, IDF, Israel, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, News, Palestine, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Salah Shahadeh, Shin Bet