24 thoughts on “Hear the One About the Mossad Agent in Al Gore’s Crapper? – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Thanks for the fun article, lasting joy. With your writing about the US-Israel visa waiver deception, it’s clear the two friends don’t see eye-to-eye anymore, and tougher times are on the horizen. Will the State Department make the step from standard reply on increased settlement building as “not helpful” to a tougher line? Seeing is believing. Monitoring press statements from AIPAC and alliances to see how the Israeli community in the US will react.

  2. “You can’t embarrass an Israeli,” he said. “It’s just impossible to embarrass them. You catch them red-handed, and they shrug and say, ‘Okay now, anything else?’”

    This might be a overgeneralization but it certainly desribes many on this blog too.

  3. Have any of our Israeli congressperps or senators held a press conference yet to denounce Newsweek and the US Intel agenices as anti semitic and spreading vicious lies our loyal ally?
    NewsWeeks next Israel expose should concentrate on the Israel spies in the US congress.

  4. Anyone who thinks that on Israeli soil, The Israeli intelligence agencies will try to spy on the US VP using such a a method is a fool.

    1. Read the article: it was only by chance that a Secret Service dude was there to prevent the room from being bugged.

      If he hadn’t then the attempt would have succeeded, as it had probably succeeded many, many times before.

      1. If standard operating procedure is to ‘clear a room’ and leave one agent behind to secure it, don’t you think Mossad would know that not attempt such a reckless caper?

        1. The article makes it clear that it is NOT standard operating procedure to leave an agent behind to secure a room.
          The Secret Service sweeps a room and then…. they leave, and guard the room from the outside (which, of course, makes sense if the VP expects to have some – supposed – privacy).

          In this case the agent lingered for an entirely different reason i.e. not because it was Secret Service protocol, but because he had to use the bathroom.

          The encounter was entirely coincidental, not the result of any flaw in “the method” used to gain entry to the room after it had been secured (and, normally, vacated).

          1. @ Jackdaw: And you presume that Ron Ben Yishai knows U.S. Secret Service protocol because…? In fact, the Newsweek article doesn’t mention this “well-known” fact apparently passed on to him by “Israeli security and intelligence officials.” In fact, Ben Yishai made it up or his sources did. My advice to you is when speaking about U.S. intelligence matters you trust a reporter like Jeff Stein who actually knows such officers and uses them as sources, and not Ron Ben Yishai, who knows gornisht fun gornisht on this subject.

          2. @ RS
            Because VP Gore wan’t the first US high ranking official to visit the state of Israel, and in preparation for such a clumsy operation intelligence will be gathered, including the behavior and protocol of US secret service agents. Keep in mind that US secret service coordinated everything with the Israeli counterparts, protocol included.

  5. I would suggest that the sequence went like this:
    1) The Israelis applied to that visa-less program
    2) The State Dept (quietly) told Israel to (quietly) drop the idea
    3) Israel then decided to go public (you need only read the Israeli papers a fortnight ago)
    4) At which point the USA exasperation with Israeli led them to talk to Newsweek
    5) At which point Israel decided to escalate this AGAIN by bringing out the Big Guns like Yadlin.

    The smart move would have been to heed the US advice at (2) i.e. drop the whole idea to avoid embarrassment.

    But Israel can’t be embarrassed, and so it refused to take “No” for an answer. And this is the inevitable result of that arrogance i.e. the USA decided to stick it right up the Israelis and watch them squeal.

    The USA didn’t do so because Israel has been spying on the USA.
    No. It did so because Israel Can’t Take A Hint.

    1. The money-shot from that article is here: “The explanation raised last week was the opposition against granting Israelis visa-free entry, but it is not at all certain that that is the real reason”

      I suggest that the visa-free brouhaha is indeed the real reason why the US is sticking it to the Israelis.

      Think about it: Israel would have approached the USA on the quiet with a request to be included in that program, and the USA would have quietly told Israel to forgetaboutit coz’ it just ain’t gonna’ happen.

      At which point a normal country (you know, a country that fears embarrassment) would have taken the hint and dropped the whole idea, and if anyone asked then officials would have muttered something about We Have More Important Things To Deal With Than Your Inability To Fill Out A Stupid Visa.

      But Israel couldn’t take “No” for an answer.

      So it had to go public about wanting to join the visa-waiver program (the Israeli press of 3 weeks ago was obsessed about it) which essentially meant that Israel was **daring** the USA to stick it to them.

      Well, sorry, the USA decided to stick it to them.

      This isn’t really about spying.
      This isn’t about Pollard at all.

      This is all about Israel’s inability to take a hint, and about a thoroughly exasperated USA trying to tell Israel to learn some humility.

      Though it appears that the Israelis *still* haven’t got the message…..

    2. @ Jackdaw: Even Ronen Bergman, whose work I often admire, is wrong sometimes and this is one of them.

      BTW, can you tell me when Amos Yadlin’s “good friends” in U.S. intelligence are going to come to the Mossad’s defense and speak up for it & against Stein’s article? I’m waiting for that and not a murmur out of anyone in DC. Strange, don’t you think? You might want to get right on that.

      1. Considering how much the NSA spies on America’s allies, like eavesdropping on Chancellor Merkel’s cellphone conversations, the US spy establishment should best remain quiet throughout this rather trivial affair.

        1. @ Jackdaw: Thank you for your advice about how the U.S. spy establishment should behave. I’ll pass it along. I’m sure they’ll be most interested in what you have to say and will all our readers!

          1. ‘BTW, can you tell me when Amos Yadlin’s “good friends” in U.S. intelligence are going to come to the Mossad’s defense and speak up for it & against Stein’s article?’

            Richard. I was only responding to your question.

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