Rechavia Berman has done it again. He was the first journalist/blogger to break the story of the Ameer Makhoul arrest and his secret detention. Now, he’s broken the gag again by revealing the identity of the alleged Hezbollah agent (per the Shin Bet) with whom Makhoul and Omer Said met. It is this meeting that the security services is using as a pretext to charge them with grave espionage offenses. UPDATE: It appears that Haaretz either intentionally or unintentionally first let the cat out of the bag on this one when it published this:
Unofficial sources say Makhoul was in contact with a number of foreign activists, some with links to groups classified by the government as terror organizations. These include a Lebanese citizen, Hassan Geagea, who is married to the daughter of Palestinian writer and historian Akram Zaitar.
They immediately removed this paragraph, but not before Marcia Cohen, being the crackerjack researcher she is, noted and quoted it at Antiwar.com. This passage also indicates that there may be other alleged foreign agents with whom Makhoul and Said consorted.
Correction: Subsequent research confirms that Hassan Jaja (not Geagea) is a Muslim, not a Maronite Christian and not related to Samir Geagea.
Hassan Jaja, a Maronite Christian and likely a relation of Samir Geagea, the feared militia general and fierce Hezbollah opponent who leads the Lebanese Forces, was the ‘Hezbolla operative’ with whom they met. The former Jaja is a known opponent of Syrian political involvement in Lebanon, which would make him an opponent of Hezbollah as well since the latter relies on Syrian support (and arms). As Rechavia writes so memorably:
So this is Yuval Diskin’s smoking gun, the mountain that gave birth to a mouse!
…This information renders ludicrous the Shin Bet claim that Makhoul and Omer had contact with a Hezbollah agent…Anyone who opposes Syrian interference in Lebanon will perforce be an enemy of Hezbollah.
…Thus it becomes clearer why the security services wish to conceal the identity of this individual, because this would cut the legs out from under their baseless theory of the case.
Berman notes the cry for blood emanating from the Israeli body politic when they are thrown red meat slogans by the Shin Bet like “grave espionage, “Hezbollah agent,” and the like. He further notes that the accused have not only not been convicted, they haven’t even been indicted or tried. But this doesn’t stop the baying of the hounds on the scent of prey.
He further notes how problematic Israeli law is regarding the charge of espionage:
You traveled to an international conference and shared a few words with a Lebanese professional colleague? If Yuval Diskin wishes, you are a traitor and spy.
The Israeli journalist further notes a distinction between Israeli and western law regarding real espionage. In most western democracies it isn’t enough that you had a conversation with an agent of a foreign power. You have to prove that you had a conversation that contained information that injured the security of your country.
And when you come down to it, what super secret information could Makhoul and Said have provided to this foreign power? Makhoul is a community activist and Said a naturopathic pharmacist. Where and how would they amass such knowledge? The Shin Bet’s claim simply doesn’t pass the smell test. The entire episode is an exercise in ludicrousness. However, it is not so ludicrous to Makhoul, Said and their children, who stand to lose the company of their respective fathers for many years if the Shin Bet and Einat “Hang ‘Em High” Ron have their way.
Thanks to some sterling unnamed Israeli sources, I’m displaying both the original April 22nd gag order signed by Judge Einat Ron against Ameer Makhoul and the May 10th decision (pdf) partially lifting the gag order. As far as I know these documents have not yet been published in Israel [correction: the May 10th decision is not secret and has been published at 7th Eye & quoted in several Israeli papers; the April 22nd gag order has not been published and was secret till now]. I hope they now will be by courageous journalists (perhaps unlikely) and bloggers (more likely). Discussion has begun within the Israeli press about the efficacy of such use of secret proceedings. I hope these documents may contribute to that process. There is absolutely no justification in this case or so many like them for using such draconian measures against citizens exercising their legal rights to express their political views within an alleged democracy.
I thank Dena Shunra and Moshe Neeman (Israeli Occupation Archive) for their help in translating the following documents. First is the April 22nd gag order submitted by the police to Judge Ron and excerpted:
1. The Israel Police is conducting an investigation which involved suspicions of security crimes regarding contact with a foreign agent and espionage, under titles 114(i), 112(i) of the Penal Code 5737-1977 are being investigated.
2. Any publication about the investigation or any detail being investigated could harm the security of the state, the investigation, obstruct and prevent the discovery of evidence for the proof of criminal offenses and establishing the facts.
In light of all of the above, we ask the Court to hold the hearing behind closed doors and that an order prohibiting publicasion be given for a period of 90 days, which would prohibit any publication about the investigation…as well as any of the details of the investigation or the fact of its existence and any hearing and court decisions heard in the past or to be heard in the future about the subject being investigated.
Additionally, we ask that the order direct a ban on publicizing the fact that this petition was filed, the content thereof, the fact of the existence of the order, and any other publication which could lead to the identification of the respondent, witnesses, and additional suspects and persons involved…to the publication of their pictures, their addresses, or any other identifying detail.
In order to permit the enforcement of the order we ask for authorization to make known the fact of its existence to the various media, as necessary, for their information only (without publication by the media that there is an order banning the publication of a security affair.)
Signed,
[Police] Superintendent Saar Shapira
Judge Ron notes her approval of the order at the bottom of the document. By the way, it was submitted the same day she approved it. If you’re a lawyer you’ve never heard of such expeditiousness in a court, where cases normally take months or even years before decisions are rendered. She interestingly approves the order for 30 days rather than the 90 requested by the police. I presume even she feels she has to show a measure of “toughness” so as not to appear the pushover she is.
Here is Judge Ron’s approval:
Having heard the representatives of the petitioner and been persuaded that publication of the affair at this stage could materially harm the security of the state and of the investigation, I find that [it is appropriate to] grant the petition – as made.
Note that the document does not offer any specific evidence to the judge nor do her notes indicate that she has seen any. In other words, she has either granted the request without proof; or she has seen proof but declined to even indicate she has. Since she does not say the latter we can only assume she hasn’t seen any evidence. So how can she justify the claim that the suspects damaged the security of the state or that suppression of news about their case can be justified on such grounds?
Here are excerpts from the May 10th decision partially lifting the gag order. Note a few things. First, she clearly confirms that the exposure of the gag here, in Facebook, and other websites renders the gag obsolete. Second, she lifts the gag only partially and in a very limited way. Signficant details are still under wraps. For example, Haaretz for a few minutes published on its website the name of the Lebanese individual Makhoul and Said met with who is alleged to belong to Hezbollah. That information is still under seal along with much else:
…Significant developments have occurred in this case: suspects were arrested and apparently, as often happens in such cases, there were repercussions, and as the gag order does not apply outside of Israel, most of the repercussions of this case were heard in foreign sources and publications abroad.
It will be stressed here that the reasons for handing down a gag order or reducing or removing such an order do not take into account the foreign publications, abroad. As is well known, with the development of technology nowadays such publication cannot be prevented, despite the existence of the order prohibiting them – and especially, such publications cannot be prevented outside of the State of Israel. However, simultaneously, it is clear that this cannot lead to a condition where no gag orders would be issued at all when there is great risk of both damage to the security of the state and material damage to the needs of the investigation, which is sensitive, complex, and has many ramifications.
The considerations for issuing the order will always reflect the issue specifically, and due to those tests mentioned and stated above, taking into consideration the limitation mentioned and knowing that publication in foreign sources does not necessarily verify the information published and cannot confirm that such information is true.
[…] In light of these developments it is possible to narrow the gag order handed down in this case as follows:
Ameer Makhoul of Haifa, born in 1958, was arrested on 6 May 2010 on suspicions of having had contact with a foreign agent […] and espionage [penal code titles omitted]
Omar Said of Kafr Kana, born in 1960, was arrested on 24 April 2010 [same suspicions, code refs]
Under the suspicions mentioned above, the alleged crimes of both suspects were carried out with the Hizballah organization.
The gag remains in force on all details excepting the above until 21 May 2010.
I would very much like to know who they met with and what, if any, connection to Hezbollah this individual has. Of course, I’d also like to know specifically what they discussed. The Shin Bet knows all this and until they provide any supporting evidence their case remains suspect.
I’m also featuring above the first TV news coverage of the Makhoul-Said arrest which includes excellent and disturbing interviews with Makhoul’s wife describing the abuse to which she was subjected by Israel’s intrepid secret police.
Judge Einat Ron, never met a Shin Bat gag order she didn't like
A few of my Israeli friends have sent me a link to a Yediot interview with Judge Einat Ron, who I disparagingly call the “Shin Bet judge” in my post title, even though she formally isn’t. She’s a real judge who might just as well work directly for the Shin Bet since, as with all Israeli courts, she is at the beck and call of the security services. If they want a gag order they get one. If they’re ready to remove it, it will be removed. I don’t think I’ve ever, except in the relatively rare case of the Supreme Court, heard of a lower court judge actually bucking the Shin Bet and acting independently.
In any case, I had a feeling that was alternately strange and gratifying when the judge, who I’ve criticized harshly for the similar role she played in the Anat Kamm case and coaching the IDF to wiggle out of culpability in the wanton killing of an 11-year old Palestinian boy, seemingly addressed me indirectly in her interview. She was asked about approving gag orders and whether she factors into her decisions the coverage that such orders receive in foreign media (a story in Ynet yesterday credited Tikun Olam with playing a leading role in breaking the story outside Israel):
Judge Ron, who restricted her gag order regarding the latest spying case at whose center stand Ameer Makhoul and Omer Said, explained that she isn’t influenced by foreign publications, but that gag orders are judged in a matter-of-fact manner…She enumerated [one reason for gag orders] “a pronounced fear regarding potential damage to the security of the State.”
She also commented on the fact that the case has been covered abroad, as Ynet reported yesterday, “As sometimes happens with in such situations there can be repercussions since gag order have no effect outside Israel. The repercussions of this case were felt in foreign sources and publications outside Israel. The reasons for approving, limiting or lifting a gag order do not take foreign media into account. However, it is known that with technological innovations you cannot prevent such publications.
Along with this, the judge pointed out that foreign news coverage “doesn’t justify creating a situation in which no gag orders are issued at all, since there remains considerable fear of harming the state’s security and harming an investigation…” if gag orders did not exist.
Haifa rally supporting Shin Bet victims Omer Said and Ameer Makhoul (Avishag Shear-Yeshuv)
To which I say, spoken like a true lawyer. An excess of verbiage and a deficit of sense. This is clearly an intelligent lawyer in service of a deformed system. And she’s whistling in the wind. Clearly, a judge would have to deny that media coverage plays any role in her decisions. But it does. And even if it doesn’t, Ron’s decisions are guided by the ‘seen hand’ of the Shin Bet, and the security agency is clearly influenced by external factors like media coverage. Not to mention the outrage against this campaign from the Israeli Palestinian community, which clearly played a factor in partially lifting the gag today.
Earlier today, Ynet reported that 300 protestors gathered in Haifa to express their support for Ameer Makhoul and Omer Said, the victims of the latest Shin Bet machinations. An Israeli Arab MK expressed outrage at the security assault:
MK El-Sana added, “Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin should not be the one handling the government’s policy regarding the Arab minority. It’s not a crime to be a Palestinian in Israel.”
Makhoul’s brother threw the charges of spying back at the government:
“Ameer is strong,” he continued. “He will face this onslaught head-on, and at the end of the day, those facing justice would be the authorities…not him”
This reminded me of the Dylan song:
The loser now will be later to win…
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’
To some, depending on their political orientation, this may sound like either bluster or vain hope. But the great Mandala will turn and someday it will be the Makhouls and Saids of the world who will be lionized, while the Diskins will be spurned for their vain effort to stave off the inevitable transformation of Israel into a multi-ethnic state affirming the equal rights of all groups with none holding supremacy.
Jim Hollander of European Pressphoto Agency has asked that I remove this photo so unfortunately you must visit here to see it http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article41035.ece/REPRESENTATIONS/large_620x350/mid_anakamm.jpg
Gahli Lit, one of my new Israeli friends from the Anat Kamm case, has sent me a truly mysterious photo of Kamm which cries out for an explanation. It pictures Kamm standing in what the caption calls a “Tel Aviv courthouse” on December 29th after a court hearing.
A few truly strange facts about the timing of this photo. On December 29th, Kamm was either in prison or under house arrest. There was a gag order preventing publication of her identity, the reason for her arrest, or even the existence of a gag order altogether. The judge who approved the gag order was Einat Ron. If you examine the nameplate on the wall next to Kamm you’ll see that she’s standing outside Einat Ron’s courtroom (which is actually located in Petah Tikva).
What gives? This woman on that date was radioactive plutonium as far as the Israeli media is concerned. Yet a photographer working for European Pressphoto just happened to be standing by her and snapped this picture? It makes you wonder how the Israeli justice system conducts justice that’s supposed to be conducted in secret. It makes you wonder how the Shin Bet allows such a gagged citizen to be photographed during a hearing on a deeply sensitive case.
Dimi Reider just e mailed me to say that December 29th was the last date on which Kamm’s gag order was renewed. And that would be the purpose of the hearing.
One thing is for sure: the Israeli media have written that they’ve known about this case for a long time. This photo would indicate that either the photographer or the editor who sent him on assignment (or both) knew about the case. This only further illustrates the collusion between the press and the intelligence agencies. The press knows about the gag order, knows it can’t do anything with the picture, but takes it anyway for insurance if and when it can use it. What a country!
My Israeli friend Zvi Solow tells me that the Kamm-Blau case strikes him as much more Chelm than Le Carre. I still don’t know which is more apt.
Khalil al Mughrabi, 11 year old Palestian died in part for Einat Ron's sins
Judge Einat Ron lied about 11 year old Palestinian's death, approved Kam gag order
Judge Einat Ron, the Petah Tikva magistrate who granted the gag order in the Anat Kam case has a sordid history going back to an infamous 2003 case in which she counseled the IDF how to lie to the Israeli NGO, B’Tselem, to avoid a wrongful death investigation. At that point, she was Colonel Ron of the IDF military prosecutor’s office and weighed in on the case in that capacity.
I thank Diane Mason of Lawrence of Cyberia for bringing this incident to my attention. Here is Chris McGreal’s Guardian report from 2003 (the killing occurred in 2001):
11-year-old Khalil al-Mughrabi was shot dead in Rafah by the Israeli army two years ago as he played football with a group of friends near the security fence. One of Israel’s most respected human rights organisations, B’Tselem, wrote to the judge advocate general’s office, responsible for prosecuting soldiers, demanding an inquiry. Months later, the office wrote back saying that Khalil was shot by soldiers who acted with “restraint and control” to disperse a riot in the area. However, the judge advocate general’s office made the mistake of attaching a copy of its own, supposedly secret, investigation which came to a quite different conclusion – that the riot had been much earlier in the day and the soldiers who shot the child should not have opened fire. The report says a “serious deviation from obligatory norms of behaviour” took place. In the report, the chief military prosecutor, Colonel Einat Ron, then spelled out alternative false scenarios that should be offered to B’Tselem. B’Tselem said the internal report confirmed that the army has a policy of covering up its crimes. “The message that the judge advocate general’s office transmits to soldiers is clear: soldiers who violate the ‘Open Fire Regulations’, even if their breach results in death, will not be investigated and will not be prosecuted.”
Diane also quotes from other sections of the B’Tselem report:
The documents presented in this report raise grave questions about the manner in which the army investigates itself. An eleven-year-old child was killed and two children were injured for no reason. However, the army failed to open any investigation against the soldiers responsible, even though all the army officials involved in the review of the incident clearly knew that the soldiers had used lethal weapons when their lives were not in jeopardy and had violated army regulations.
The army conducted a shallow and superficial inquiry, at all stages of the process, and made no effort to understand how the children were injured, to determine who was responsible, and to ensure that such incidents would not recur. All levels of the army hierarchy failed. The soldiers who violated the Open-Fire Regulations shot to death a child and injured two other children; the IDF Spokesperson provided an imprecise version of the incident (the Southern Command Judge Advocate even noted this in his opinion); the Southern Command Judge Advocate submitted an opinion that offered a version different from that stated in the operations de-briefings.
The Chief Military Prosecutor, Col. Einat Ron, went even further. In her legal opinion, she proposed an obviously false version of events as a reasonable course of action. The fact that she did not hesitate to propose, in writing, possible courses of action that clash with the truth raises a serious concern that lying is considered legitimate practice in the office of the Judge Advocate General.…
Which raises the obvious question: how does a chief military prosecutor guilty of promoting a false account of a lethal IDF firing incident get a promotion to become a civilian judge? But one question we don’t have to ask: why would the Israeli police shop its gag order application to Judge Ron? The answer is obvious even before asking the question. Here is an officer of the court so attuned to the needs of the prosecution that as a prosecutor she was fully prepared to lie on its behalf. Of course the Israeli police would want such a judge to hear their case. And the gag order was a slam dunk.
The next time any of my pro-Israel readers wish to argue that Israeli justice operates at a very high standard and protects the rights of individuals to free speech and human rights, let them first explain this holy mess of a case, and specifically Einat Ron, and how she got to be where she sits today as an honored member of the nation’s legal justice system.
In the U.S., such an individual would either have been disbarred for the counsel she offered or would at least have been brought up on charges. In Israel, she’s offered a promotion.
And doesn’t the illegal killing of Khalil al-Mughrabi bring us right back to the original crime for which Anat Kam leaked IDF documents and which Uri Blau published in Haaretz? They too were exposing the IDF’s illegal targeted killings of Palestinian militants in violation of an Supreme Court ruling. It seems that just as Einat Ron was covering up the IDF’s mess in 2003, she continues to cover up in 2010. It’s nice work if you can get it.
I just received the Anat Kam gag order from a confidential source for whom I have great appreciation considering that s/he risked a great deal to offer this to me. But before I reveal it to you I wanted to convey a hilarious comment Zvi Solow just wrote:
I realise that no one will believe this, but the truth is that we are not getting closer to Iran. We’re getting very close to Chelm tho’.
I wish I believed him. I don’t think Israel’s intelligence apparatus is as out of control as Iran’s, but to argue that this is democracy or anything remotely close is also laughable. Israel is somewhere between Chelm and Iran.
Let’s Wizard of Oz-like, open the curtains on the characters without whom this farce could not have existed. For the judiciary, we have the plump, august Judge Einat Ron of the Petah Tikvah court. For the Israeli police, we have Sa’ar Shapira to thank.
I’ve written about Judge Ron and her professional background in the military justice system, which explains why she was a pushover. Other Israelis will have to tell us more about Shapira so that we can thank this person for their Chelm-like efforts to make Israel a laughingstock among the democratic nations.
The gag application notes that the code name of the investigation is “Double-Take.” Which is interesting and may unintentionally reveal that two people are its targets: Anat Kam and Uri Blau. The document is dated January 1, 2010 and says the order is extended for an additional 90 days (which would’ve taken it to April 1st). The document reveals that a previous gag order, which I don’t believe anyone has publicly report until now. It was secured on October 8, 2009.
Further, here are the justifications mounted for the gag order (and keep in mind that this investigation was seeking to identity and punish Anat Kam and possibly Uri Blau for exposing the fact that the IDF killed Palestinians in contravention of a decision from Israel’s highest court):
Publication of any sort about this investigation or any detail concerning it is likely to damage state security, to damage and frustrate the gathering of evidence, and the ability to prove criminal acts.
I can understand why an Israeli general might want to argue that exposure of his illegal acts would be damaging to state security. But I can’t understand why any court worthy of the name would allow such a travesty.
This passage from the gag order document is also chilling. It seeks among other things:
…To prohibit publication about the investigation or that it even exists, and on the judicial discussion of the matter and legal decision rendered by the court which have been and will be conducted…
We seek that the gag prohibits publication even about this application for a gag order, its content, and even the existence of a gag order in this case; and any other publication likely to identify the respondent, witnesses, suspects or others engaged in the investigation, including publications of their images, addresses, or other identifying details.
This is the rhetorical banality of state security apparatuses the world over. I’d expect verbiage of this sort from the Burmese junta or perhaps Kim Jong Il’s North Korea. But Israel?
The applications for the order is approved by Judge Einat Ron in her own hand. I will have more on this woman of perspicacious judicial temperament in my next post. This is starting to remind me of a serial soap opera with the major difference being that the “actors” in this case, the generals and their judicial enablers have brutally taken the lives of others or covered up the taking.
Yediot republishes Judy Miller's 'Israeli Censorship Scandal' story with black-outs
There is much that is instructive in the Anat Kam case about the deficiencies in Israeli democracy. I’ve discussed many of them in earlier posts. Tonight, I want to talk about the overly cozy relationship between the judiciary and the military-intelligence apparatus. Let’s say you’re the Shin Bet or the Attorney General and you’ve got a case like the one we’re talking about. You want a gag order. Complicated? Hardly. In fact, about as easy as getting a warrantless NSA wiretap during the Bush administration.
Let’s take the Kam matter as a case in point. The prosecution couldn’t have found a more willing judicial accomplice than the rather rotund Judge Einat Ron whose online bio describes her legal experience. She served in the military prosecutor’s office in varied capacities beginning as a prosecuting attorney and concluding as a military judge. She was named as a judge to the Petah Tikvah court in 2007. Before this she had NO experience in the civilian justice system. How’s that for venue shopping?
An Israeli journalist friend informs me that Yediot Achronot has republished Judy Miller’s story (h/t to Didi Remez for the pdf) in The Daily Beast about this case. However, it has blacked out about half the original piece because it might violate the gag order (they thankfully didn’t excise my name or my blog’s name, but almost all my interview quote was blacked out, which is a bit excessive since I didn’t mention Kam in the passage Miller quoted in her original article). I’ve been reading Israeli newspapers and I can’t recall a time when such a thing happened. But this case has made for numerous unfortunate “firsts” in the annals of suppression of Israeli free speech. My Israeli readers who are more experienced in reading their papers, can tell me if they recall things differently.
Einat Ron, judge who granted Kam gag order
Usually, the military censor (which is slightly different than a gag order) works much more subtly. Newspapers don’t reveal their negotiations or dealings with the censor. So you don’t know what material was in a story originally. You don’t know which stories are axed by the censor. You don’t know if a story was approved by the censor. But in a situation like this Yediot wants their readers to know in the most public way possible that they are subject to such censorship. But let’s not begin singing hosannahs yet to Israel’s free press. When Yediot publishes such a story without blackouts, then we can celebrate. Even better, when it sends its reporters out to investigate and break the story itself, then we can really celebrate. Until then, we can only commiserate (if you’re sympathetic) or rail against the media’s collaboration with the authorities in maintaining this oppressive regime.
Ben Gurion University professor Zvi Solow just sent me this interesting e-mail, which he wishes me to emphasize consists of his personal opinion. It also taught me a wonderful Hebrew word I hadn’t heard:
The IDF censor is now on the radio trying to defend herself attacking the press as “irresponsible” and anyway she’s is only “trying to preserve the security of Israel”. The majority opinion here is that the whole thing is shlemieliut [from the Yiddish shlemiel, or a person who is prone to very bad luck] on the part of the security agencies. Uzi Benziman, a very senior journalist here simply suggested on Galei Zahal that…the gag was imposed in order to defend certain unnamed officials who screwed up. The Yediot story is – I haven’t seen it yet – apparently full of blackouts, but these are the last efforts to stem the flood. The headlines on the radio quote Dorner as condemning strongly the gags. This is going to be one juicy scandal here – for the good of our threatened democracy.
From his mouth to God’s ears (an old Yiddish saying).
In an earlier post, I credited brave Israeli bloggers who’ve broken the code of silence about this case. I neglected Freedom of Search, from whom the above gag order graphic is borrowed.