Barak Ravid reported yesterday that the military escalation in the Persian Gulf announced by John Bolton (sending a carrier task force into the Strait of Hormuz) was a response to a Mossad intelligence report. UPDATE: It now appears that Bolton's statement about deployment of the U.S. carrier itself was misleading as the task force was already steaming to … [Read more...]
Rafi Eitan: Israel’s Notorious Spymaster, Deconstructed
NOTE: As a freelance journalist you look for major events for which you believe your editors might wish to commission a piece. Such was the occasion of Rafi Eitan's death. As it happens, none of my media outlets were interested in my pitch about this. But I think his story offers many lessons regarding the use and abuse of Israel's intelligence … [Read more...]
Black Cube Targets Cyber-Security NGO at Behest of Leading Israeli Malware Maker
The Israeli TV news magazine, Uvdah and the NY Times have collaborated on, and amplified a major story originally published by AP. It documents an elaborate, and ultimately unsuccessful sting operation on the Canadian cyber-security NGO, Citizen Lab (CL). The latter is the key organization which has exposed a series of malware attacks by various hacking … [Read more...]
Khashoggi Murder Leads to Fundamental Regional Alignment: Public Enemy Number 1 is Now Turkey
NOTE: Middle East Eye asked me to contribute to an assessment of what 2019 will hold in store for the Middle East. I focussed especially on prospects for Israel and its relations with the other players in the region. Please read and disseminate it as widely as you can via social media and other ways. It may be an exaggeration to say that the … [Read more...]
