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Analysis: Behind Israel’s Attack on Gaza

December 29, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment

In contrast to the vague international protestations by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about Israel’s “right to self-defense”, the domestic Israeli press has been extremely candid about the reasons behind Israel’s ongoing attack on the Gazan population. On Sunday, the country’s most respected newspaper, Ha’aretz, published a detailed account of what it described as the Israeli government’s “[l]ong-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public” which lie behind the latest onslaught against the imprisoned Palestinian population. Read Article →

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict, Hamas, IDF, Israel, Joseph Fitsanakis, Palestine

Israel pressuring Russia on sale of S-300 missiles to Iran

December 16, 2008 by intelNews Leave a comment

Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reports that Israel’s government is preparing to send Major General Amos Gilad, a senior Defense Ministry official, to Moscow, to pressure the Russians not to sell an advanced antiaircraft system to Iran. Gilad’s visit, which will include meetings with Russian senior defense and intelligence officials, is aimed at preventing the planned sale of Russia’s advanced S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Tehran. Military experts have warned Israel that, by purchasing and installing the S-300 system, Iran will effectively “rule out an Israeli war against Iran” by eliminating the possibility of a surprise Israeli air attack. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Greece, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Israel, News, Russia, S-300

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

Official history of Israeli spy services acknowledges US spying against Israel

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

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Barak Ben-Zur, Israel, Israel's nuclear arsenal, Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel), Mossad, News, nuclear proliferation, Shin Bet, United States

Israeli intelligence alleges Syrian nuclear program resumed

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

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Kibar (Syria), Al-Kibar nuclear reactor (Syria), IAEA, Israel, News, nuclear proliferation, Syria, Syrian nuclear program, United States

Comment: A message to Obama from Israel

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

Strange phone calls in Syria point to Israeli intelligence services

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

IAEA confirms US allegations of Syrian nuclear reactor

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]

Israeli military intelligence chief wants dialogue with Iran

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]