USA struggles against Israeli spies and Jewish extremists

Relations between the USA and Israel have become complicated recently. America decided to support Israel’s rough actions towards the Palestinians. At the same time, US special services detain Israeli spies on American territory and struggle with home-bred Jewish extremists.

Fox TV reports that during the investigation of the Sept.11 terrorist acts, about 60 Israelis were detained in the USA on suspicion of intelligence activity. Several of the detained are Israeli military men and secret intelligence agents operating on the US territory, the TV company reports. Charges of the violation of immigration rules have been brought against most of the detained.

A polygraph was used for the interrogation of the Israelis suspected of spying against America. Investigators say that for some of the detained, the polygraph became an obstacle.

The detained Israelis are not accused in connection with the terrorist acts in New York and Washington, although the version is well spread in many Arab states. The detained are said to have been aware of the terrorist acts, but they provided no information about them. Israel’s embassy in the USA denies any connection of Israeli with intelligence activity against the USA. Fox reports that before the Sept.11 events, 140 Israelis were detained on suspicion of espionage. Israel’s special services have created a wide spy network in the USA. Students studying art in Jerusalem penetrated US army bases, anti-drug services, governmental institutions, secret offices, and homes of law enforcement officers. US intelligence considers Israel as an A-category country. States that carry out the most aggressive intelligence operations against the USA are in this category.

Fox cited a report US intelligence agencies on the problem. “The actions of Israeli in the political and economic spheres are dictated by their strong survival instinct. That is why Israel is aggressive in itst collection of information about US military and industrial technologies."

However, the USA has to struggle not only with “harmless” Israeli spies on its territory. Recently, two leaders of the Jewish Defense League (JDL)were detained on suspicion of organizing bombings of a mosque, a congressman's office, and the headquarters of an Arab-American group in Los Angeles.

A special anti-terrorism team of the US Department of Justice detained the two leaders of the JDL, Irv Rubin and Earl Krugel, as the plotters of terrorist acts aimed at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City near Los Angeles and office of Senator Issa in San Diego.

Issa, the grandson of Lebanese immigrants, is a Christian of Arab origin and a member of the Republican party. He is on the House Committee for International Relations and supports the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The senator cannot understand why he has become a target for extremists. In Issa’s words, most American Jews are in a panic after information about more explosions. The senator says that the same panic was observed among American Arabs after the Sept.11 explosions.

Investigators say that the plans of the terrorists were frustrated when the last component, explosive powder, was delivered to Krugel’s home.

One of the League’s members, whom Krugel asked to assist in the bombings, told the FBI about the plan. Now, attorneys of the detained say that it was this FBI special agent who brought explosives to Krugel’s home. The prosecution does not deny the fact. Krugel’s attorney considers the FBI agent the producer of the whole act. The preparation for the explosions is said to have been taped. The tapes reveal that, to avoid numerous victims, the targets were to be exploded at night. The amount of the explosive powder found in Rubin’s home is not enough to explode a building, experts say.

The US press reports that the JDL's leaders have been detained after recent promises of the Public Prosecutor and the FBI director on prevention of response attacks against American Arabs.

The Jewish Defense League (13 000 members) was founded in 1968 as an armed response to anti-Semitism. It also stood for the punishment of Nazi criminals and immigration of the Jewish population from the USSR. The League’s founder, Meir Kahane, quit the organization in the 1980s and was assassinated in 1990. El Sayyid Nosair, 36, an Egyptian-born Muslim, was convicted in connection with the shooting.

The situation in the Middle East is extremely tense; Americans support Israel’s strict actions in its struggle with terrorists. That is why the JDL's preparation for bombings in the USA were so unexpected. Attorneys of the two terrorists are more likely to stress this fact in court. The JDL's attorneys will say that law enforcement authorities have already lunched an anti-Jewish campaign for the sake of a balance.

Several Arab-American organizations have asked authorities to block all accounts of the league, which has been recently done for Muslim charitable funds involved in money collection for terrorists. The Jewish Defense League itself is under the threat of being shut down.

The position of the US administration is a delicate one: it supports Israel’s struggle against Arab terrorists in the Middle East and detains Jewish extremists and spies in America at the same time.

Sergey Borisov PRAVDA.Ru Translated by Maria Gousseva

On the photo: Irv Rubin