Author: Paul Yih
Date: 04-06-12 13:40
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/06/israel-blames-u-s-for-media-reports-about-iran-strategy.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
Israel Blames U.S. for Media Reports About Iran Strategy
Apr 6, 2012 12:00 AM EDT
Insiders are denouncing reports in the U.S. press about military strategy on Iran—and pointing the finger at Washington. Do the disclosures compromise Israel’s security?
Top officials in Israel are charging that national-security leaks coming from the U.S. government are undermining Israel’s military options against Iran. “The problem is the Iranians are certainly paying close attention to these reports,” a senior Israeli official told The Daily Beast. “We are concerned about the leaks and we hope they are not intentional.”
The latest such leak appeared March 28 on Foreign Policy magazine’s website, claiming that Israel had been granted secret access to airbases in Azerbaijan near Iran’s northern border. The piece was sourced to senior U.S. diplomats and military-intelligence officers.
In Washington the article was referred to in a conference call on March 30 between leaders of the American Jewish community and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, according to notes of the call provided by a participant in the meeting. The first question McDonough was asked during the meeting was whether the Foreign Policy story was leaked to “undercut Israel.”
McDonough told the Jewish leaders that he personally abhors leaks and that he did not know the sources for the article. He also said he wouldn’t—or couldn’t—confirm the report. “The policy is to press the Iranians, not the Israelis,” McDonough said, according to the notes.
The Foreign Policy piece was written by Mark Perry, a journalist and author who specializes in intelligence and military matters. He has reported a series of exclusives about the U.S.-Israel relationship, including a piece this year that claimed Israeli Mossad officers were posing as CIA officers to recruit Iranian opposition figures for operations in Iran. The Daily Beast was not able to confirm the report.
Leaks from both the Israeli and U.S. defense and intelligence communities have been a treasure trove in the last year for national-security reporters.
Netanyahu and Obama Meet at United Nations
Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel during a recent meeting at the United Nations, Mandel Ngan, AFP / Getty Images
Perry has provided counsel to the Palestinian side of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Between 1989 and 2004, he served as an unofficial and unpaid adviser to Yassir Arafat. After that he became the codirector of Conflicts Forum, a nongovernmental organization that specializes in bringing journalists and policymakers into contact with groups throughout the Middle East and South Asia that have been designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah. In 2009 he left that group after his codirector Alastair Crooke, a retired British MI6 officer, wrote an op-ed questioning whether the Iranian regime had really killed Neda, the iconic Iranian woman protester whose death was captured on YouTube.
Perry denied his recent article had an Obama-administration connection. “I’m not on the White House speed dial,” Perry told The Daily Beast. “I have no reason to believe that this story was intentionally planted with me. I followed up an initial report and built up the information over a series of months.”
Leaks from both the Israeli and U.S. defense and intelligence communities have been a treasure trove in the last year for national-security reporters. The Daily Beast, for example, in November reported details of Israel’s electronic war capabilities against Iran.
But the latest report comes after last month’s state visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both U.S. and Israeli officials have characterized those meetings as successful. In their wake, Israel has, for example, started sharing more of its military-planning data with the United States. And President Obama pleased Israel by declaring that it is U.S. policy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, not to contain an Iran that has obtained such weapons.
“The administration has been unequivocal about Israel’s right to defend itself and the United States has done more to bolster Israel’s defense through the foreign military financing of $3 billion a year and done more than any country in the world,” a senior administration official said.
At the same time, it’s no secret that Obama and his top advisers are also seeking to dissuade Israel from launching an airstrike on Iranian nuclear facilities. On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated this theme. “It’s our very strong belief, as President Obama conveyed to the Israelis, that it is not in anyone’s interest for them to take unilateral action,” Clinton said. “It is in everyone’s interest for us to seriously pursue at this time the diplomatic path.”
Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.
Eli Lake is the senior national-security correspondent for Newsweek and the Daily Beast. He previously covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times. Lake has also been a contributing editor at The New Republic since 2008 and covered diplomacy, intelligence, and the military for the late New York Sun. He has lived in Cairo and traveled to war zones in Sudan, Iraq, and Gaza. He is one of the few journalists to report from all three members of President Bush’s axis of evil: Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.
For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.
Print
Email
Comments (59)
Tags:
Israel,
Iran,
Middle East,
Benjamin Netanyahu,
World News,
Obama Administration,
U.S. Politics
Related Stories
Mitt Romney’s Top Five Vice President Options, From Marco Rubio to Paul Ryan
Mitt Romney’s Top Five Vice President Options, From Marco Rubio to Paul Ryan
Kate and Pippa Middletons Cousin Dances Naked With Topless Woman
Kate and Pippa Middleton's Cousin Dances Naked With Topless Woman
Kate and Pippa Middletons Cousin Dances Naked With Topless Woman
Mitt Romney’s Top Five Vice President Options, From Marco Rubio to Paul Ryan
Comments
Login or signup
You must be logged in to comment
Astropithecus
9 Minutes Ago
Obama is only showing us his true character.
He gladly sells out and betrays our best, most loyal allies for his own gain.
You know, he would sell out and betray this country too. That's who he is.
Max 67likes this.
Reply
jzsnake
12 Minutes Ago
Yeah Israel wait till Obama is re-elected, he'll have more flexibility to screw you.
Max 67likes this.
Reply
Reagan1
37 Minutes Ago
Oh they are mad at us. WHO CARES! Why do we continue to bow to the morons we have literally given them everything. They should simply say thank you and be on their merry little way. All of this over what some 2000 year old prophecy its making my head hurt. Quit acting like pansies this is America damn it who cares if they are pissed just stop giving them billions of dollars and we will see what they have to say about us then good god.
Reply
harrykrishna
54 Minutes Ago
not sure that israel is an ally, but they certainly can't be usa's mother
Reply
levon
1 Hour Ago
LEAKS? That's funny..... Exactly how gullible are we Americans?
Reply
DFMyhansre
1 Hour Ago
The string of "he said, she said" in this article is hilarious. Consider these scintillating "facts":
1. The most recent leak came from a "reporter" for Foreign Policy Magazine.
2. The "American Jewish community." What is that? An organization by that name? Some unspecified collective of Jewish organizations in NYC? Please, Mr. Lake. You are a better writer than that.
3. Mark Perry--author of the Foreign Policy piece--is now a "journalist."
4. But, Mark Perry: "Between 1989 and 2004 . . . served as an unofficial and unpaid adviser to Yassir Arafat."
5. Then Mark Perry, "became co-director of Conflicts Forum, a non-governmental organization that specialized in bringing journalists and policymakers into contact with groups throughout the Middle East and South Asia that have been designated by the State Department as foreign terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah."
My question is, "Why believe anything Mark Perry says"? His resume' suggests he's a chameleon, sociopath, or both. Why does not Mr. Lake write and article about that?
Reply
HoustonForensics
1 Hour Ago
just lil' barry doin what lil' barry does best: backstab your friends.
Reply
Dr_SwampGas
1 Hour Ago
It is now election season in the US, so all neutrals and civilians around the world had better get out of the line of fire.
This election is going to be a screaming Hate Fest, a War Without mercy on both sides, so all civilians, bystanders and third parties had better take cover until it's over.
Astropithecus and HoustonForensicslike this.
Reply
dalelama
1 Hour Ago
That is what happens when the incumbent can't run on his record.
franjen and HoustonForensicslike this.
1 more (expand)
Astropithecus
16 Minutes Ago
oh, yes he will
Romano70
1 Hour Ago
Israel is the textbook example of a tail wagging the dog.
Reply
DSchlageter
2 Hours Ago
I simply don't care if some tiny dependent country is upset because we aren't going more broke fighting their wars for them. Especially when there is no immediate need, justification or reason. If they think they have a legitimate beefs, Let them take it to the UN.
kunda311likes this.
Reply
kunda311
2 Hours Ago
Agreed, the nation and/or government Israel loves to act like a petulant child often, but if they didn't have the backing of the US the story would surely be different. Someday they will really have to take responsibility for all they've done instead of constantly playing the aggrieved party/victim/preemptive retaliatory card.
2 more (expand)
franjen
33 Minutes Ago
Holocaust card? really? Love to hear what you would say if over 6 million of your race were murdered.....in space of a couple of years.
Mr. Wonderful
3 Hours Ago
That Israel had a secret negotiation with the Islamic country of Azerbaijan for an Air Base to attack Iranian bomb sites from the North.... Brilliant
That Obama officials reveled that secret Air base to the Iranian Government to thwart Israel while Obama goes on with his hapless negotiation strategy... Treasonous
That most American Jews still intend to vote for Obama .... Astounding
Reply
Provincial
3 Hours Ago
That the American Jewish community supports Israel’s False Flag operations seems like treason to me.
2 more (expand)
RhinoJack
1 Hour Ago
If less than 5 million people out of 300 million people can swing an election then the rest of you are pathetic. And since when is voting treasonous?
Max 67likes this.
ChasMan
3 Hours Ago
Israel = American Airbase in the Middle east. No more, no less.
Max 67likes this.
Reply
Antinous
3 Hours Ago
Oh yeah...whatever happened to the argument that with all we give Israel we don't have to be their fighting their wars. Don't hear any of that crap any more.
RhinoJack
1 Hour Ago
Fighting their wars? I don't think Israel needs your assistance. When was the last time the US won a war - Korea? Vietnam? Lebanon, Somalia? Afghanistan?, Iraq?
Max 67likes this.
HannahAbbott
3 Hours Ago
mr. obama should be impeached for this . . . period
Mr. Wonderful and Max 67like this.
Reply
Antinous
3 Hours Ago
President Obama should be given another Nobel Peace Prize for this...period.
Romano70 and JDOKOUPILlike this.
leftistmenace
3 Hours Ago
It would be great if they stopped acting like they were the ones giving us billions of taxpayer dollars every single year since it's exactly the other way around.
Antinouslikes this.
Reply
carlsonp
3 Hours Ago
exactly. I hope israel realizes that they are rapidly losing support in this country especially amoung young people like myself. no one supports israel that i know.
debbieqd
4 Hours Ago
When are we going to stop allowing Israel to yank our chain?
Provincial, Antinous and johnny.hoffman83like this.
Reply
More
Change Text Size
Author
Eli Lake
Eli Lake
Most Popular
Forget the Church. Follow Jesus.
Shocking Photos from F18 Fighter Jet Crash in Virginia Beach
Israel Angered Over U.S. Leaks
Meghan McCain: Is it too late for Mitt Romney and Republicans?
The Smartphone Class War
Stories We Like
EW.com ‘Cord Cutting’ Study: 1M Off Cable in 2011
Huffington Post Politics Longtime Obama Allies Furious in Feud
Political Wire Why Romney Needs Santorum to Exit Now
Stylelist 6 Must-Have Pieces of Lingerie
News One Hillary Clinton 2016?
Huffington Post Politics Nikki Haley Compared To Snooki, Kardashian
Buzzfeed 13 Simple Steps to Get You Through a Rough Day
Related Stories
The Daily BeastPeter Beinart: Obama Betrayed Ideals on Israel
The Daily BeastMichael Tomasky: How the Supreme Court Ended Up on the Ropes
The Daily BeastMeghan McCain: Is It Too Late for Mitt Romney and Republicans?
Other News
Paul Yih
|
|
The Asiawind forums are provided to you by
InTechTra Inc.
