oaf@mit-vax.UUCP (Oded Feingold) (12/20/85)
>>> Why has the government of Israel chosen to spy against its >>> closest ally and defender? [Farzin Mokhtarian] ------------------------------ Call this "Question 1." <See note C, below.> >> Allies always spy on each other. {name-your-favorite-country} >> spies on us too (even if your favorite country is us!) and we >> spy on them. [Warren Burstein] > Do you mean to imply that it is acceptable behaviour for > allies to spy on each other? If so, why did we see a display > of anger and disapproval from the U.S. state department > followed by a formal apology by Israel? > Or was that just for mass consumption? [Mokhtarian] ------------------------------ Call those "Questions 2--4." I submit the answers to questions 1--4 may be found in the article reprinted below: From "The Economist" of December 7, 1985, page 44: >> A BRIEF GUIDE TO FRIENDLY SPYING << (Reprinted without permission) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The fuss over the allegation that an || American, Mr Jonathan Pollard, has been || passing American secrets to Israel is for || the most part good theatre intended to || reassure Americans and Israelis that nice || friends in the not-so-nice world of spying || Answers question 4. behave like perfect gentlemen to each other. || But everybody spies on everybody. It could || Supports Burstein. hardly be otherwise. Asked whether America || spied on its NATO allies, Mr Richard Helms, || Answers question 2. a former head of the CIA expressed an honest || spy's view: "I hope so." || || This does not mean that countries are || always foolish to share secret information || with their friends. It's a matter of || identifing where interests diverge. One || Supports my previous side may think it prudent to withhold some || posting. of its discoveries or worthwhile to pry into || the private recesses of a friend's || intelligence treasury. It is a question of || weighing up the political embarrassment if || the snooper is caught against the value of || the information that might be found. || || There are numerous cases of friends spying || on each other -- and getting caught. || American diplomats were kicked out of Spain || earlier this year for drying to eavesdrop on || the Ministry of Defence. Six years ago || South Africa (a friend of a kind) threw out || several American embassy staff for trying to || peep at military installations. A more || serious example of friendly snooping was the || American deciperhing of coded messages || passing between Britain, France and Israel || during the Suez crisis of 1956. || || American anger about Mr Pollard, a || Answers question 3, 31-year-old analyst in the department || partially. responsible for naval counter-terrorism, is || not, however, hypocritical. If the charges || stand, the case did, after all, involve not || just snooping but the suborning by Israel of || an American to commit an act that was at the || very least disloyal. || || But the protestations of high-minded || "consternation" by Mr Shimon Peres, the || Israeli prime minister, are not being taken || too seriously in the intellignece world. || Nor are Israeli hints that, if the || allegations are true, the unit responsible || was a renegade outfit outside normal || See note B, below. intelligence channels. Mr Peres was one of || the founders of Israeli's (sic-OAF) defense || industry. His foreign minister, Mr Yitzhak || See note A, below. Shamir, was a top operative of Mossad, the || regular intelligence organisation. Both || believe that Israel's survival still depends || Answers question 1. on military readiness based on maximum || knowlege of the enemy -- knowledge that must || be obtained by any method compatible, and || here is the rub, with Israeli diplomacy of || the day. || || More than a touch of scepticism is needed || about the spy world. Israelis are probably || right in thinking that the Pollard case will || Completes the not be held against them for too long. The || answer to question rule they appear to have broken is not one || 3. that says "Never fib to your friends" but || rather the first in the spymaster's book: || "Don't get caught." || ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Notes: <A>. If Mr. Shamir was a Mossad operative, it's news to me. Also, the relationship between Shamir and Peres is pure hatred. The idea that the two of them cooperated on anything except under duress (such as sharing<?> power in the most unlikely coalition in Israel's history), let alone something as delicate as a spy action, is absurd. Kindly remember that Shamir is the stupid underling of Begin. He couldn't think up something that complicated to save his life. <In private mail, I'll quote an Israeli joke about Reagan, Miterrand and Shamir. It strikes home.> <B>. This assertion is correct - if the charges stand, there should be no doubt the operation was "officially" sanctioned. Whether that exceeds the limits of acceptable behavior, and what the appropriate response should be, I leave for wiser heads to decide. [That doesn't mean I don't have an opinion.] <C>. In light of the article reprinted above, and Mr. Mokhtarian's titanic sophistication and self-pronounced smartness, I find his series of questions disingenuous and inflammatory. This is not the first time he has tried by misdirection to paint Israel in a negative light. What is surprising is his insistence on fabrication, in this case his aura of injured innocence at Israel's "egregious" behavior, when so many legitimate criticisms lie begging to be ground by the net.politics mill. MY INTERPRETATION is that legitimate criticisms, based on inputting existing information and applying realistic analysis of human (national?) motivations, don't usually permit the sneering imputation that Israel is a * renegade, * sadistic, * racist, * theocratic, * bloodthirsty, * expansionist tyranny, * (crudely leeching off US largesse), upon which assumption Mr. Mokhtarian and several others seem to thrive. <D>. I've descended to name-calling - again! Would those who object to my tones and accusations kindly explain certain people's consistent alterations of history and current events, said alterations uniformly portraying Israel in the slanted terms of my previous paragraph, and Jews throughout the world as willing conspirators in some monumental scam that the Zionists (International? Elders of??) are pulling on the nations of the world? I'd appreciate it. -- Oded Feingold MIT AI Lab. 545 Tech Square Cambridge, Mass. 02139 OAF%OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA {harvard, ihnp4!mit-eddie}!mitvax!oaf 617-253-8598