EMET Outraged Over Allegations of Israeli Spying

EMET Outraged Over Allegations of Israeli Spying

(Washington, DC March 24, 2015) The Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) today expressed outrage at a report in Monday’s Wall Street Journal that Israel has allegedly “spied” on the United States to obtain details of the impending nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran and have “leaked these details to our American policymakers.”  Not only is there no proof that these allegations are true, but these charges are being used to obscure the dishonesty and bad faith of the Obama administration’s continuing and increasingly unhinged campaigns against Israel and in favor of Islamist Iran or Palestinian terrorists.

There is no actual proof that Israel has spied on the U.S., or that it has shared any information in an underhanded way with the U.S. Congress.  Israel has denied this vociferously.  Further, no Congressmen or Senators have indicated that they were briefed by the Israelis.

Equally disturbing is the fact that these unproven allegations are being used to smear Israel for duplicitous behavior, when, if anything, the Obama administration is the party acting in an untoward and secretive way against the interests of one of our strongest allies.  Although the U.S. is negotiating with Iran, a nation that have repeatedly vowed to destroy Israel, the Obama administration has consistently attempted to keep Israel – as well as other U.S. Middle East allies – in the dark about these critical negotiations.  In fact, Israel only first learned of the Iranian nuclear talks in March of 2013, not through the Obama administration, but through Saudi Arabia.  And after Israel protested the increasing number of U.S. concessions to Iran earlier this year, the Obama administration completely stopped briefing Israel entirely on the Iran talks.

Make no mistake. The current tensions between the White House and Israel are rooted in a concerted campaign by President Obama to make a deal – any deal – with the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the fact that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave a speech this weekend, saying, “Death to America.”  President Obama considers this deal the crown jewel of his foreign policy legacy.

This is also an outgrowth of the Obama administration’s unrelenting desire to establish an immediate Palestinian state, despite the fact that the Palestinians have not demonstrated that they are ready to live side by side with Israel in peace and security, but instead consistently incite their people towards hatred and terrorism. During Israel’s recent election, Netanyahu questioned whether, given regional turmoil, the time was right to create a Palestinian state. The President’s advisors hold no sympathy for Israel.  In fact, some clearly harbor hostility. The series of leaks and slanderous accusations we’ve been seeing prove that these advisors perceive a green light, from the President himself, to attack Israel without consequence.

The President’s anti-Israel stance is welcome news to Israel’s foes because it gives them hope that the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership is weakening.  The White House’s attacks on Israel feeds growing anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic sentiment worldwide and are perilous for Israeli and Jewish interests.  They are also extremely perilous for American interests, as Iran is already on the offensive throughout the Middle East, where it is sponsoring jihadist nations or terror groups in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, and is developing intercontinental ballistic missile technology, which is only necessary for delivering nuclear bombs and other munitions into the continental U.S.  Nuclear weaponry would only further embolden Iran.

Frustrated by policy failures across the Middle East – from the spread of Iranian influence across the region to the closure of U.S. embassies in Syria, Libya, and Yemen – to the rapid rise of the Islamic State across 34,000 miles of the Middle East roughly the size of the United Kingdom, the Obama administration now sees Israel as low-hanging fruit it can easily bully.

“Every week there is another ridiculous allegation against Israel,” said EMET founder and President Sarah Stern.  “This is clearly part of a campaign to keep our Israeli allies on the defensive, so that they cannot object to the emerging deal with Iran which would allow the Iranians to develop nuclear weapons.  And also to force upon Israel, and the rest of the Middle East, another jihadist terrorist controlled Palestinian Arab state,” she continued. “Considering the long history of hate and violence that Iran, and the Palestinian Arabs have directed against Israel, it is totally unacceptable for the White House to act in this manner.  Israel has every right to know every detail of the Iranian negotiations, and to object to another Palestinian terror state.  And rather than criticizing the Israelis, we in the U.S. should be agreeing with them, as neither of these things are good for the U.S.,” Stern added.