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WASHINGTON, Sept. 19,
2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Institute for Research:
Middle Eastern Policy,
IRmep announces a
lawsuit has been filed
against the National
Archives and Records
Administration demanding
immediate release of
presidential letters
held by the George W.
Bush and William J.
Clinton presidential
libraries.
IRmep
believes the government
of Israel sought the
guarantees in order to
preempt Arms Export
Control Act AECA
limitations on U.S. aid
to foreign countries
with clandestine nuclear
weapons programs.
Most Americans would place limitations on U.S. aid to Israel under laws triggered by its nuclear weapons program. When told the CIA believed Israel has nuclear weapons, 54.8% of Americans agreed that Arms Export Control Act limitations to the non-signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) should apply. Question: Arms Export Control Act law limits foreign aid to countries with nuclear weapons that haven’t signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. CIA says Israel has nuclear weapons.
The representative poll was submitted as evidence (PDF) in an ongoing legal battle to force the Departments of State and Energy to release WNP-136. WNP-136 is titled “Guidance on Release of Information Relating to the Potential for an Israeli Nuclear Capability.” It functions as a secret gag order preventing federal agency employees and contractors from publicly discussing or releasing US government information about Israel’s nuclear weapons program. The Department of Justice attorney arguing for the defendants had suggested that there may not be much public interest in whether the presiding judge reviews the secret gag order privately in chambers for possible release. The poll results indicate high interest in the broader implications of the lawsuit. Full report from Antiwar.com Poll data Legal filings in the Center for Policy & Law The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was ordered to register as an Israeli foreign agent on November 21, 1962 when it was part of the American Zionist Council. AIPAC has never complied with the order, and the Department of Justice has never enforced it. AIPAC’s associated think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) was spun off from AIPAC as a survival tactic during a 1980s FBI investigation into AIPAC over economic espionage that produced America’s worst-performing bilateral trade agreement. Incredibly, decades later both organizations appeared to want to get into law enforcement and were instrumental lobbying President George W. Bush for the 2004 launch of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (OTFI) Treasury unit. (See Washington Institute for Near East Affairs congressional testimony in support of the creation of OTFI to be headed by Stuart Levey)
Although OTFI proclaims it is "safeguarding the financial system against illicit use and combating rogue nations, terrorist facilitators, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferators, money launderers, drug kingpins, and other national security threats," the secretive office has a special blind spot for major terrorism generators, such as tax-exempt money laundering from the United States into illegal Israeli settlements and proliferation financing and weapons technology smuggling into Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons complex. Full Report at Antiwar.com Legal filings in the Center for Policy & Law
Governmental lying by
omission involves
intentionally leaving
out important facts to
foster broad popular
misconceptions. In 2012
the Obama administration
promulgated a gag order
in the form of a secrecy
classification guideline
– WNP-136 (PDF) –
banning all federal
agency employees and
contractors from
discussing, writing
about, or releasing
government information
about Israel’s nuclear
weapons program.
Backers of the gag order
hope to undermine
informed public debate
about nuclear
proliferation in the
Middle East, ongoing
illicit transfers of
know-how, material and
technology from the US
to Israel, to maintain a
spotlight on Iran as the
region’s nuclear
proliferation threat as
well as quell debate
about whether the US is
truly a champion of
nuclear
non-proliferation. But
the overarching purpose
of WNP-136, curiously
titled "Guidance on
Release of Information
Relating to the
Potential for an Israeli
Nuclear Capability," is
even more nefarious. The
core objective behind
WNP-136 is to perpetuate
a single massive and
ongoing violation of US
law. The Virginia-Israel Advisory Board VIAB has one key difference with scores of privately funded state chambers of commerce created to foster closer economic integration between the United States and Israel while supporting the Israeli government’s policy agenda.
Originally created by an
uncodified act in 2001,
VIAB has been funded by
Commonwealth of Virginia
taxpayers. Its charter
is to “advise the
Governor on ways to
improve economic and
cultural links between
the Commonwealth and the
State of Israel, with a
focus on the areas of
commerce and trade, art
and education, and
general government.”
VIAB is a pilot for how
Israel can quietly
obtain taxpayer funding
and official status for
networked entities that
advance Israel from
within key state
governments.
The New Yorker staff writer Adam Entous revealed on June 18 that four sitting U.S. presidents beginning with Bill Clinton signed secret letters agreeing never to publicly discuss Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal. According to Entous, President Trump’s aides felt "blindsided" by Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer’s urgent demand to sign a fourth letter. Only a small number of "senior American officials" in the previous three administrations even knew about the existence of such letters. Though said not to specifically mention Israel’s arsenal, Israeli leaders interpret the letters as binding American pledges not to publicly mention Israel’s nuclear weapons or press Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The letters add to growing evidence of a longstanding multifaceted executive and federal agency conspiracy to violate the US Arms Export Control Act on Israel’s behalf. US Foreign Assistance to Israel Since the Clinton Administration (US Billion)
Source: 2018 GAO report "US Foreign Aid to Israel," MOU commitments, inflation-adjusted, excludes black budgets. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who has FBI-documented personal connections to Israel’s nuclear weapons program smuggling operations – was particularly concerned about newly-elected president Barack Obama. On February 9, 2009, veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas asked if Obama knew "of any country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons." Obama dodged answering the question before finally replying that he didn’t "want to speculate." Speaking in Prague in April, 2009 Obama called for strengthening the NPT. However, by May 2009, Obama yielded to Israeli pressure and signed an updated version of the secret Israeli gag letter, according to Entous. On September 6, 2012 Obama’s Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of State, issued a secret directive called "Guidance on Release of Information Relating to the Potential for an Israeli Nuclear Capability," or WNP-136 making it a crime for any US government employee or contractor to publicly communicate any information – even from the public domain – about Israel’s nuclear weapons program. Report at Antiwar.com Audio version at YouTube. Podcast discussion audio from "Takes on the World" and "The Scott Horton Show"
Most Americans
would oppose any Trump Administration support for an
International Criminal Court investigation into Israel’s
use of lethal force against Palestinian protesters on
May 14. This is because they either never heard about
the massacre or received slanted coverage.
Source: IRmep poll of 1,504 US adults through Google Surveys May 23-25, RMSE 5.5%. Raw data and demographic filters at Google.
An Israeli intelligence entity called "Black Cube" targeted Obama administration officials such as former foreign policy advisor Ben Rhodes and outside experts, such as the National Iranian American Council’s Trita Parsi, that advocated for passage of the JCPOA known as the "Iran nuclear deal." Though most media reports reference Black Cube’s self-designation as a "private intelligence company" while noting it employs former Mossad officers, there are reasons to doubt it is entirely unconnected from the Israeli government, which wanted to undermine the JCPOA. Israeli spy Shai Masot, secretly recorded in an Al Jazeera undercover video, freely admitted Israel was setting up just such private corporations to clandestinely do its bidding. While not solely responsible for the Trump Administration’s decision to ditch the JCPOA, Black Cube’s intelligence operation clearly tried to inch the US closer to open military conflict with Iran, which could cost countless lives and trillions of dollars.
Black Cube’s
covert operations targeting the JCPOA and previously as
a gun-for-hire against Harvey Weinstein’s victims at
first glance seem risky, reckless and rushed. Blind
offers of cash for consulting on "movie projects" via
email solicitations, using thin LinkedIn profiles and
Wix generated websites. Recorded phone calls to
incriminate or blackmail unknowing victims. Why use such
a clumsy foreign cutout to target mostly U.S.-based
American citizens?
Pollster Gallup has claimed since the year 2001 that the
majority of Americans (averaging 59% between 2001-2018)
hold much greater sympathy for Israelis than for
Palestinians (averaging 17%) “in the Middle East
situation.” Gallup releases its yearly results with
titillating headlines, such as “Americans Remain
Staunchly in Israel’s Corner” (2018 poll) and "Israel
Maintains Positive Image in U.S." (2017 poll). Israel advocacy groups demand questionable changes to Virginia textbooks - 4/16/2018
Requested changes include:
1. Deletion of references to Israel “occupying”
territories captured during the 1967 Six-Day War and
substituting “controlled.” International conventions
clearly outline the responsibility of occupying powers
and the illegality of collective punishment and
population transfers.
Israel Lobby Archive documents and analysis
PR Newswire release IRmep lawsuit challenges secret gag order on the Israeli nuclear weapons program - 4/6/2018
"Nuclear weapons did not deter Egypt and Syria from attacking Israel in 1973, Argentina from attacking British territory in the 1982 Falklands War or Iraq from attacking Israel during the 1991 Gulf War." After an unknown congressional staffer read the article and demanded a review, it was referred to classification officials for a second review. Doyle's pay was then cut, his home computer searched, and he was fired. IRmep alleges in the lawsuit that the American public has been harmed by being kept in the dark about U.S. policy toward the Israeli nuclear weapons program. Important questions include:
Get more information about this lawsuit at IRmep's Center for Policy & Law The Central Intelligence Agency believed that by 1974 Israel could strike all of its bordering countries with nuclear-tipped two-stage Jericho missiles. Israel was viewed by CIA as a proliferation threat via sales of turn-key nuclear weapons systems to its close allies such as apartheid South Africa. This was corroborated in year 2012 news reports revealing Israeli sales contracts. Although the now-defunct Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) demurred, the CIA also believed that a substantial quantity of weapons-grade highly-enriched uranium (HEU) was diverted from the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC) in Apollo, Pennsylvania to Dimona for weapons production. These stunning new revelations are contained in the top-secret report Special National Intelligence Estimate, "Prospects for Further Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons" otherwise known as the 1974 SNIE.
Get more information at Antiwar.com The Israel Lobby and American Policy 2018 - Full Conference Video Playlist - 3/2/2018
Also see C-SPAN2 full coverage of "The Israel Lobby & American Policy 2018"
The Israel
lobby has a lot of levers it can push and pull to curry
favorable news coverage from media organizations. These
range from denying access to the limited pool of
top-tier pundits and Israeli government officials, to
crippling economic boycotts. This power is visible in
the battle to punish and shutter Al Jazeera, the Qatari
state-funded news organization.
Less well
known is that concurrent to the UK investigation,
another undercover reporter was hard at work penetrating
Israel’s Washington lobby. James Anthony Kleinfeld, a
British citizen, interned at The Israel Project. The
Israel Project works as a quasi-public relations agency
for Israel, using its cartel-like access to sought-after
Israeli officials to shape media appearances and
influence who can appear opposite Israel’s media
luminaries. The behind-the-scenes activities of The
Israel Project’s chief, former American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spokesperson Josh Block, to
condition and ultimately quash the appearance of Rula
Jebreal on VOA, were exposed via a FOIA request in 2016. Get more information at Antiwar.com
Veteran radio broadcaster and podcaster Scott Horton will present key topics drawn from his widely acclaimed new book Fool's Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan at two public appearances in Washington on March 4.In his dynamic and wide-ranging lecture, Scott will explore uncomfortable and little-known facts about U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan. He will review the shifting rationales given for America's longest war and why they do not advance U.S. national interests. Register for Horton’s free March 4 book lecture at Middle East Books and More in Adams Morgan in the morning or the Tenley Friendship Public Library in the afternoon. Fool’s Errand has received critical acclaim from leading Americans. (see Foolserrand.us) 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM – Middle East Books and More, 1902 18 Street Northwest, Washington, DC (just north of Dupont Circle) https://foolserrandadamsmorgan.eventbrite.com 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM - Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library, 4450 Wisconsin Avenue Northwest, Washington DC (Across from the Tenleytown-American University Red Line Metro stop) https://foolserrandtenley.eventbrite.com
Foreign countries unlikely to respond like US politicians to Israeli incentives
The Trump administration threatened to end billions of
dollars in US foreign aid to countries opposing recent
US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. On
December 21, despite US threats, 128 UN member states
voted to uphold long-standing international consensus
that the status of Jerusalem can only be settled through
a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians. An
additional 35 countries abstained. Both Palestinians and
Israelis want Jerusalem to be their capital.
The IRmep poll was fielded by Google surveys to 2,505 adult Internet users from December 22-January 2 and has an RMSE score of 7.6%. Demographic filtering and raw data are available online from Google. Get more information about of this report Poll page All IRmep polls NUMEC & the Israeli nuclear weapons program "off the table" in Washington - 1/2/2018
IRmep Director Grant F. Smith asks Anthony Cordesman of CSIS, who in 1986 told the LA Times that Israel had diverted US government-owned weapons grade uranium, if the U.S. has now lost moral authority in the nuclear non-proliferation arena. |
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