In this issue:

Egypt: 'Israel is Fuelling the Cycle of Violence'

Mitzna Says Likud Is 'Infiltrated by Organized Crime'

The Slime Factor in the Likud Party

Feiglin and Mofaz Purged from Likud Ballot

Israel's Price for 'Restraint' on Iraq Is Lebanon

Turkey Saying No to Iraq War—Again

Chickenhawks' Bluff on Iraq Called

Top Iraqi Scientists Refused U.S. Bribes To Defect

From Volume 1, Issue Number 43 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Dec. 30, 2002
MIDEAST NEWS DIGEST

Egypt: 'Israel is Fuelling the Cycle of Violence'

"Israel is fueling the cycle of violence" with its assassinations policy, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, following his conversation with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat on Dec. 27. One day earlier, Israeli military forces carried out assassinations of eight Palestinian "militants," stalking the individuals, and killing them using hit teams.

Maher said that this Israeli move was deliberately coming "at a time when the Palestinians are trying, with Egypt's help, to reach an agreement for a calming down." Cairo has been hosting talks to try to reach a ceasefire, involving Arafat's Fatah movement and the Islamist organization Hamas, which has carried out suicide bombings. Each time the talks have made any progress, Sharon's government in Israel has carried out an assassination atrocity—leading, predictably, to revenge terrorism.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abbed Rabbo directly linked the Sharon/Mofaz assassination campaign to the Jan. 28 Israeli elections, as being an attempt to "serve [Sharon's] electoral aims." Rabbo said that the "crimes of Sharon are intended to inflame the region and distract attention away from the scandals which are rocking Likud" (Sharon's party).

Mitzna Says Likud Is 'Infiltrated by Organized Crime'

Israeli Prime Minister candidate and Labor Party chairman Amram Mitzna said the Likud Party's candidate list was "infiltrated by organized crime," and warned, "Soon we will have a Knesset (Parliament) or perhaps a government controlled by organized crime." The Likud is the rightwing party of incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Mitzna also attacked the war hysteria as a diversion from necessary discussion of the fact that Israeli society is crumbling.

Meanwhile, Labor Party strategist and member of the Knesset Avraham Burg, asked Sharon to expel from the Likud Party candidates' list for the Jan. 28, 2003 Knesset elections, anyone involved in corruption, "whether he is from organized crime, the extreme right-wing, a family member, or among those closest to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister also expel members of his family from the [Likud] list?"

Burg added that, according to recent reports, the one who "initiated the corruption that led to even members of organized crime creeping into the Likud, is one of Sharon's closest associates." The Israeli paper Ha'aretz said this was a reference to Sharon's son Omri.

The Slime Factor in the Likud Party

After a week of reports of a widening investigation into ongoing Likud vote-buying and organized crime scandals, on Dec. 27, Ha'aretz ran an editorial, "Tentacles in the Corridors of Power," which began, "The longer the investigation into allegations of corruption in the Likud continues, the more details are revealed about apparent connections between senior members of the party and criminal elements." The editorial cited Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishky, who expressed "grave concern" at the mounting evidence of a criminal move to control the Likud. "Particularly worrisome," the editorial continued, "are the suspicions about relationships between senior officials in the Likud and criminal elements." The editorial singled out top Sharon ally and Communications Minister Reuven Rivlin, and top officials of the Environment Ministry, for selling appointments.

Ha'aretz also slammed Sharon for failing to reassure the party or the general public that he intends to do anything about criminal penetration of the Likud.

In updated news developments on the scandal, reported in Ha'aretz and the Jerusalem Post:

*Police extended their probe to Knesset member Haim Katz, who is accused of illegally using funds from the Israeli Aircrafts Industry Union, which he heads, to buy votes in the Likud primary. Katz may have colluded with Shlomi Oz, a convicted felon and Likud activist, to fake registrations of perhaps thousands of new party members just before the primaries. Oz is a "former" member of the organized-crime gang headed by Moshe Mussa Alperon, which specialized in strong-arm debt collections. Oz is also under investigation for the theft of NIS 4.5 million in 2000, along with several notorious Israeli loan sharks, Benny Ravizada and Meir Chason, as well as Likud central committee member Benny Tabin and ex-con Roni Sasson.

*Likud Deputy Director-General Rafi Bar Chen was interrogated by Israeli National Police on the role of the party itself in fixing the election for Sharon allies.

*Moshe Mussa Alperon (cited above), at a press conference in Tel Aviv, announced his resignation from the Likud, in protest over allegations that he is still involved in criminal activities. He was a central committee member. He called on Shlomi Oz to also resign.

*Israel's Fraud Squad is also expected to interrogate Deputy Infrastructure Minister Naomi Blumenthal, for paying for hotel rooms and other bribes the night before the Likud primaries. Her chauffeur, Adi Oski, was arrested on suspicion that he had helped pay the hotel room bills and other bribes. At a bail hearing for accused Likud vote-buying figure Michael Elnakaveh, Superintendent Danny Kachalon of the National Fraud Investigation Unit told the court that Blumenthal's refusal to cooperate constituted interference in the investigation. Blumenthal's driver Oski is believed by police to have been given NIS 12,000 by Elnekaveh to pay for the hotel rooms. The next day, Blumenthal won the seventh spot on the Likud Knesset slate.

*The Fraud Squad also announced plans to interrogate Sharon's son Omri, who is at the center of the vote-buying scandal, and has been publicly linked to organized-crime figure Shlomi Oz.

*Police suspect that Likud central committee member Michael Elnakaveh, who is currently under arrest, received money from several candidates which paid for rooms at a five-star hotel, where an alleged "election rally" took place. The police suspect that the payments most likely came from financial backers of the candidates.

*Two aides to President Moshe Katzov are suspected of possible involvement in the scandal: Svilka Brukner, who is responsible for public complaints, and the President's driver, Moshe Gabal. They are suspected of helping Inbal Gavrielli, the former waitress who made it onto the Likud candidates' list after being in the party for only one month. The Gavrielli family is suspected of involvement in illegal gambling and other criminal activity.

*Israel's Fraud Squad has also arrested two alleged "vote contractors" named by an outgoing Knesset Member, Nehama Ronen. Ronen told police that "voting contractors" offered her votes at the Dec. 8 Likud Central Committee convention, in exchange for money. On Dec. 23, police questioned Eitan Sulami, the head of Sharon's election staff.

*Ha'aretz reported that Israeli police are now looking into the transfer of 4.5 million shekels from accounts in Bank Leumi to Likud activists Shlomi Oz, Benny Ravizada, Meir Hason, Benny Tavin and Roni Sasson. All the suspects are expected to be summoned to appear for police interrogation soon. Reportedly, Sasson laundered the funds through Mizrahi Bank before shipping them to other accounts, presumably to pay off voters to cast their ballots in the Likud primaries for designated candidates.

Feiglin and Mofaz Purged from Likud Ballot

Two anti-Arab fanatics, Moshe Feiglin, head of the ultra-provocateur "Zu Artzeinu" movement, and Gen. Shaul Mofaz, Sharon's Defense Minister, were stricken from the Likud's list of candidates for the Jan. 28 elections. Both were accused of breaking eligibility rules.

Israel's Central Elections Committee ruled Dec. 24 in favor of the appeal by Meretz Party Member of Knesset (Parliament) Naomi Hazan and attorney Yaacov Shtotland, that Feiglin was automatically ineligible for the Knesset because he was convicted of a crime within the past seven years. Feiglin spent a year in jail after a 1997 sentence for sedition.

A 42-year-old Australian emigré, Feiglin is the self-anointed head of a Likud Party splinter, linked to the banned terrorist group Kahane Chai (founded by Jewish Defense League terrorist Meir Kahane). In 1995, Feiglin was in the middle of propaganda operations that set up the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Feiglin ran Zo Artzeinu (This Is Our Country) with Rabbi Benny Alon, head of the radical, racist Moledet Party, which considered Palestinians a "disease" to be eliminated. Alon, who is close to the U.S.-based Christian Zionists linked to the Moonie cult, has also just been implicated by court testimony in foreknowledge of the assassination threat against Rabin.

On Dec. 25, National Elections Committee Chairman Mishael Cheshin also disqualified Gen. Mofaz, ruling that by Election Day, on Jan. 28, Mofaz, who was until early July Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff, will not have completed the "cooling off" period required of senior IDF officers seeking a Knesset seat.

The challenge to Mofaz's candidacy on the Likud list was made by the Labor Party. Sharon claims that he will keep Mofaz on as Defense Minister in the next Likud government.

Israel's Price for 'Restraint' on Iraq Is Lebanon

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is a key ally of the U.S. faction that wants a war with Iraq, and is actively contributing to the hysteria being built up in Israel about the war. Mofaz told the Israeli population that Israel "must brace for any development ... [because] if and when the United States decides to attack, there will be risks for Israel."

But, amid this war hysteria, Mofaz admits that the U.S. will not go to war with Iraq until after UN efforts fail. Mofaz reportedly told the Israeli Cabinet last week that he had the impression that the U.S. will first exhaust the process of international weapons inspections of Iraq before embarking on military steps. Mofaz had just returned from Washington, where he met with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. At the meetings, the U.S. made clear that Israel should not join the attack. Hardliner Mofaz bristled and insisted Israel has the right to self-defense.

According to Ha'aretz commentator Amir Oren, Mofaz and Sharon's other generals demand a price for restraint in dealing with Iraq—they want a free hand in Lebanon. Oren writes, "But the condition for such restraint is liable to be a corresponding decision that will satisfy the hawks, who included ... and Air Force Commander in Chief Major General Dan Halutz. It could be a decision to exploit the opportunity.... America's payment for Israeli restraint in Iraq will apparently be its consent to the use of the Israeli Air Force—and perhaps also other branches of the IDF—in Lebanon."

Turkey Saying No to Iraq War—Again

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the head of the ruling party of Turkey, has rejected unilateral military action against Iraq, reported BBC online on Dec. 27. Erdogan said, "Both we and the government say that Turkey will not finalize its position until the UN Security Council's decision.... The report by the UN weapons inspectors has not been submitted yet.... Until [it is submitted], I believe what is said now is no more than gossip and mere prediction."

The statement came out while Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Mark Grossman and Assistant Secretary of Treasury (outgoing) John Taylor were in Ankara, discussing financial matters with the Turkish government. Grossman had accompanied the Defense Department's pro-Sharon chickenhawk, Paul Wolfowitz, to earlier meetings in Turkey, where Wolfowitz was attempting to secure Turkey's support for an attack on Iraq.

But Turkey is still reluctant. On Dec. 21, the New York Times reported on the dilemma facing Turkey should the U.S. decide to attack Iraq. The U.S. is insistent that Turkey provide basing and transit rights for up to 90,000 U.S. troops to stage operations into Northern Iraq. Turkish officials fear that a war would be economically devastating and, because 83% of the Turkish population oppose a war, also politically disastrous. "We will be seen in the Muslim world as a country that is killing other Muslims," said one official.

At the same time, Turkey does not want to risk its relationship with the United States. "Everything is happening out of our control," Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told the Times in an interview.

Chickenhawks' Bluff on Iraq Called

On Dec. 27, the Iraqi government announced on that it would let Iraqi scientists leave the country to be interviewed by UN weapons inspectors, if they so wished. Since UN Resolution 1441 passed, the rabid warhawks in the Bush Administration and their neo-conservative allies in the U.S. media and think tanks, have tried to make the "scientists" issue the line in the sand, that could get a war going. The neo-cons were wrong.

General Hussam Mohammed Amin, the chief Iraqi liaison to the UN team, said at a press conference that it would be up to the individual scientists, but he also stressed that leaving the country is not necessary. "I'm one of them," Amin said. "I can answer you on my case only: I will not go." Asked why, Amin said, "Because I don't like to leave my country. If there is an important question to be addressed to me, let them address it to me here in Iraq."

At least one technical specialist, Sabbah Abdel Nour, a member of the staff at Baghdad Technology University, refused to be interviewed by the UN inspectors without an Iraqi government official present. Amin approved of Abdel Nour's handling of the matter, saying that having a tape recorder present was not enough, "because it can be manufactured or can be changed. But if there is a human being in the role of witness, this will keep the rights" of the scientists.

Top Iraqi Scientists Refused U.S. Bribes To Defect

Last May, when an Iraqi delegation travelled to the UN, in New York, for meetings to discuss the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq, one member of the delegation, Jaffar Dhia Jaffar arrived a day late. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said that Jaffar, regarded as the father of Iraq's nuclear program, had been held up at the American embassy in Jordan, where the Iraqis must go to get visas to travel to the United States, and had been "singled out for interrogation" by U.S. officials.

Iraqi diplomats later told UN officials that Jaffar and other Iraqis had been offered cash by the United States, in an unsuccessful attempt to get them to defect. When Jaffar finally arrived in New York, he was reportedly livid, complaining that his luggage was missing, and that he was still wearing the same suit he had on when he left Baghdad. According to one UN official, "He said the [U.S. intelligence] agencies are probably going through every single piece of clothing" in his bags. From there, Jaffar went into a tirade, accusing the UN of falsifying reports on Iraq's efforts to dismantle its nuclear weapons.

After that incident, the Iraqis successfully prevailed on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to have further such meetings held in Geneva, Switzerland.

According to the Washington Post, the United States also tried to get two other Iraqi officials to defect, including Gen. Amir Saadi, a top adviser to Saddam Hussein, and Mehdi Labidi, a mid-level technical expert. The London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that, according to Iraqi sources, U.S. intelligence agents had been repeatedly calling Iraqi officials at their hotels in New York, offering them cash in suitcases if they would defect.

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