Israel is apprehensive about the ripple effects of its implication in the latest US-espionage saga, reports Khaled Amayreh from Jerusalem Israeli officials continued to vehemently deny any knowledge of the case of an Israeli spy at the Pentagon who allegedly passed "sensitive documents" pertaining to Iran to the Israeli government via the powerful American Jewish lobby, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, better known by its acronym AIPAC. Lawrence Franklin, who worked in the office of Under- Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, reportedly had been based in the American Embassy in Tel Aviv where he held "regular intelligence reviews" with Israeli intelligence officials. "We deny carrying out any intelligence activity in the US. It is a strange story," the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying. "Israel for many years has not carried out intelligence activity in the United States," the official said. Israeli intelligence officials, however, have admitted that a "high ranking Israeli official" had met with Franklin. The officials quoted by Ha'aretz on 30 August described the meeting as "routine". Several Israeli ministers, including Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, blamed Pentagon-CIA rivalry for the espionage affair. They accused "certain elements" within the CIA and the Pentagon of "concocting this affair" for the purpose of harming Israeli interests and discrediting Israel's supporters in Washington, especially the neocons who are regarded to have engineered the American invasion and occupation of Iraq. Most Israeli analysts have doubted the veracity of the espionage affair, relying on the assumption that it would be utterly stupid for Israel to risk its paramount strategic relations with the US by implanting a spy in the Pentagon. "I personally think it is a case of poor judgment or poor discretion. It is just very hard to believe that Israel would do such a thing again after the Pollard debacle," said Yossi Alpher, a senior Israeli political analyst, referring to Jonathan Pollard, the convicted American Jewish spy who in 1985 was sentenced to life in prison for spying for Israel. Alpher, however, did not rule out the possibility that Franklin, who has been described as a "trusted political- military analyst of the Pentagon", dealt with AIPAC or some of its representatives without the knowledge of the Israeli government. The American TV network CBS reported on 27 August that Franklin handed sensitive White House briefings on Iran to representatives of AIPAC who subsequently passed them on to the Israeli government. AIPAC, careful to dispel any suggestion of double loyalty, denied any wrongdoing, saying it would never harm America's interests and vowing to fully cooperate with the US Justice Department in this affair. Ilan Pappe of Haifa University, however, believes the Franklin affair will deal "a very serious blow" to American-Israeli relations at the intelligence level. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Pappe opined that the affair would have a long-term negative effect on the way Israel and its supporters in the US are perceived. "We will not see an immediate effect, but many American officials, especially at the intelligence and defence levels, would think twice before deciding to have too-close relations with Israel," he said. The most immediate and serious Israeli concern in this regard is the scandal's possible repercussions on Israel's increasingly incessant efforts to pressure the Bush administration to adopt a more aggressive policy against Iran, including the possibility of carrying out an attack on Iranian nuclear sites to prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons, as Israel and its supporters allege it desires to do. Reports from Washington suggest that "the Iranian nuclear programme" was the main axis of Franklin's activities. It is widely believed that Franklin worked closely with the two most powerful Jewish officials at the Pentagon, namely Douglas Feith and Paul Wolfowitz. Needless to say, both have close affiliations with Ariel Sharon and the Likud Party. Franklin, a junior defence analyst, reportedly had refashioned himself as an "expert on Iran", ostensibly to be able to get "more directly involved" in drafting US policy on the country. Recently, Israeli officials said on more than one occasion that they hoped that the US would attack Iranian nuclear sites on Israel's behalf. The public remarks, coupled with the Franklin affair, may suggest that Israel and its powerful and influential supporters in Washington are trying to repeat the Iraq scenario, in one way or the other, in order to assure the continuation of Israel's military and strategic supremacy in the Middle East. Iran has constantly argued that Israel and its powerful lobby in Washington were responsible for goading the Bush administration into adopting a hostile attitude against Iran, despite Iran's more-or-less constructive role in Iraq.
