ISRAELI-U.S. RELATIONS

Generally

Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. Lanham, MD: Sheridan Square Press, 1992.

Surveillant 3.1 notes that Ben-Menashe "spent more than a decade supposedly in the innermost circles of Israel's clandestine services," but concludes that this is more "October Surprise theory."

NameBase seems to buy into Ben-Menashe's accusations, commenting that he "was one of six on Israel's top-secret Joint Committee on Israel-Iran Relations, and spent years globe-trotting for them, setting up fronts and transferring millions in cash. In 1980 he saw George Bush in Paris meeting with a high Iranian official, and in 1986 he briefed Bush. In 1981 Robert Gates helped him with his suitcase containing $56 million."

Craig Unger, "The Trouble with Ari," Village Voice, 7 Jul. 1992, 33-39, makes a negative judgment as to Ben-Menashe's truthfulness.

Cockburn, Andrew, and Leslie Cockburn. Dangerous Liaison: The Inside Story of the U.S.-Israeli Covert Relationship. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. New York: HarperPerennial, 1992. [pb.]

Surveillant 1.6 sees Dangerous Liaison as a "tale of cooperation between the Pentagon, CIA, and Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet from post-WWII contacts with James Angleton to the present crisis in the Gulf." Surveillant 2.4 adds that "[r]ecent accounts of Israeli sales of arms to India add further credibility to this work."

Rich, FILS 12.3, notes that the 1992 edition has a "few changes." This is an "easily read and enjoyable survey of the complex story of American and Israeli covert relationships." However, there are "occasionally lapses into baited-breath journalism." The "chapter on [Michael] Harari ... is the best in the book."

To Stork, Middle East Journal 46.2, the book is "an extensive, well-researched, and accessible account that helps to demystify the relationship at a moment when it may be undergoing significant stress."

NameBase says that Dangerous Liaison "is especially helpful in understanding the influence of the Israeli arms industry, which operates on a revolving-door basis with various elements of Israel's intelligence community and has been all too eager to supply many of the world's tyrants." This book is "[l]ess a diplomatic history than a study of the dark underside of the U.S.-Israeli relationship."

Green, Stephen. Taking Sides: America's Secret Relations With a Militant Israel. New York: Morrow, 1984.

Petersen notes that Green is "critical of U.S. and U.S. intelligence support for Israel since 1948." Similarly, NameBase points to the author's conclusion that "were it not for U.S. policies that favored the militarists within Israel, particularly from 1964 to 1967, the Palestinian problem might have been solved."

Hersh, Seymour M. The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy. New York: Random House, 1991. The Samson Option: Israel, America and the Bomb. London: Faber & Faber, 1992. [pb] The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy. With new Afterword. New York: Vintage, 1993. [pb]

According to Surveillant 2.2, the book has, in part, been "vigorously disputed.... [O]ne of the key sources, Israeli exile Ari Ben-Menashe, is a very controversial figure." Similar questions are raised by Bates, NIPQ 8.4, who finds that the book's "sourcing is vague." Bates adds, however, that The Samson Option is "good reading that weaves a plausible tale."

To Beckman, America, 19 Sep. 1992, The Samson Option is "enlightening and provocative." Nonetheless, Hersh "lacks evidence" for his claim that the Soviet Union was the primary target of Israeli nuclear weapons. Doron, IJI&C 6.1, argues that Hersh has been "unable to establish with complete credibility whether or not Israel actually has nuclear capability."

Quandt, WPNWE, 2-8 Dec. 1991, also finds it "difficult to believe that Israel has developed a so-called 'counterforce' capability against the Soviets [that is, the capability to hit Soviet military targets]. It makes little sense militarily, in contrast to a 'city-busting' capability." In a number of instances, Hersh makes a "questionable use of sources," and further "weakens his impressive narrative by leaving a trail of minor errors." If nothing else, however, Hersh has performed a service by making available more information on a difficult topic.

On the other hand, Beres, IJI&C 10.1/83/fn. 9, finds The Samson Option to be "altogether lacking in serious scholarly merit."

Kahana, Ephraim. "Mossad-CIA Cooperation." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 14, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 409-420.

As the author admits, there is little open-source information on his subject. Hence, the article is filled out with instances where there was a lack of "cooperation": such as, Israel's use of NUMEC to obtain enriched uranium, the attack on the Liberty, and the Pollard fiasco.

Loftus, John, and Mark Aarons. The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.

According to Surveillant 4.2, this allegation-filled book has a "consistent theme: that the White House and MI6 have repeatedly run illegal programs, hidden from both CIA and Congress, and then used the Jews as scapegoats." A host of people are named as being part of this conspiracy, including most of the major political leaders of the United States and Great Britain for the last half century.

Rodman, IJI&C 7.4, calls this book a "massive [658 pages] (and massively-documented) volume." The authors open with the collaboration between Jack Philby and Ibn Saud to prevent the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It is in "the chapters that cover the postwar period ... that the authors make their most explosive claims." Included are claims that James Angleton was an "Israeli mole" and Nelson Rockefeller was "blackmailed" into supporting the establishment of the Israeli state because Israeli intelligence "threatened to expose their intimate links to Nazis and East European fascists." The authors believe that the Israeli attack on the Liberty was, indeed, deliberate, but they also "believe that it was entirely justified." They argue that the Liberty was passing Israeli order of battle to the Egyptians, but they fail "to present incontrovertible evidence to substantiate their version of the incident." The West certainly "has not been as consistently perfidious as the authors imply." However, despite its flaws, "this book deserves to be taken seriously."

Fishel, IJI&C 8.3, takes strong exception to Rodman's statement in his review (see above) that the "most credible" explanation of the attack on the USS Liberty is that it was an "accident": "In fact, Israel's assault on the Liberty was as accidental as Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor." Fishel calls Loftus and Aarons' book, "a collection of preposterous and demonstrably false theories and allegations. With regard to the Liberty attack, the only significant detail they get right is that it was deliberate.... Yet David Rodman states this work 'deserves to be taken seriously.'" Rodman responds in IJI&C 9.1 by expressing and explaining his continuing skepticism with regard to "the claim that the Israelis knowingly attacked an American ship."

A NameBase reviewer opines that "John Loftus and Mark Aarons are formidable when it comes to uncovering the secret history of Western intelligence.... The most interesting portions [of this book] are only peripherally involved with Israel; the 'war against the Jews' seems to be a journalistic 'hook' that ties together chapters stuffed with new material on political corruption in U.S. and British intelligence." The authors also raise "the possibility that Bush's reversal of policy toward Syria was the result of blackmail. Although the authors include 115 pages of end notes, many of their sources, unfortunately, requested anonymity."

In a true pot-and-kettle situation, McGehee, CIABASE January 1995 Update Report, states that the "authors are far too opinionated and rhetorical to be considered reliable."

Melman, Yossi, and Dan Raviv. Friends in Deed: Inside the U.S.-Israel Alliance. New York: Hyperion, 1994.

Clark comment: Although the dust jacket lists Dan Raviv first of the two authors, all other indicators from the cover on list Yossi Melman first and he is, therefore, shown as the first author here. According to the authors, the U.S.-Israeli alliance "is a broad relationship, extending from international politics to military affairs, from intelligence cooperation to financial ties." (p. xv) There are references to intelligence-related activities throughout the book, but Chapters 4, 7, and 15 focus on such issues.

Surveillant 4.4/5 says that the authors "uncover and document many revelations about the secret side of the alliance, including new details of the intimacy between intelligence networks."

Segev, Samuel. Tr., Haim Watzman. Iranian Triangle: The Untold Story of Israel's Role in the Iran-Contra Affair. New York: Free Press, 1988. [Chambers]

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