The BBC has been blasted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) for airing an accusation that Jews around the world assist in supposed Mossad assassinations.

The AJC said in a statement that it was “dismayed that a guest on BBC Radio 4 was allowed to state unchallenged” that the Mossad relies on Jews for assassination plots.

“This baseless accusation crosses every red line between legitimate public discussion and bigoted fear-mongering,” said AJC executive director David Harris. “In less than a minute, the BBC has cast a shadow on the lives of Jews worldwide.”

BBC Radio 4’s PM program interviewed Gordon Thomas, author of Gideon’s Spies, a book about the Mossad, about the January 20 assassination of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

Local authorities and many international media outlets believe that the killing of Mabhouh, who bought rockets for Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip, was carried out by the Mossad.

In explaining the Mossad’s operating methods outside Israel, Thomas told PM host Eddie Mair, “They have a whole backup system called ‘asylum.’ These are people, local residents, Jewish people, who help the Mossad. It is estimated to be in the world about half a million; some people say a million; I tend to say it’s about half a million, all of them Mossad people.”

“Of course, Mr. Thomas is irresponsible in making such unfounded assertions on a radio program heard around the world,” said Harris, “but even more shocking is BBC, a premier public broadcaster with a far-reaching global network. How can the interviewer allow such aspersions to be cast on a community without the reporter calling the so-called expert to order?”

The comments also drew condemnation from observers of the BBC.

“Unfortunately, such ugly and nonsensical statements on the BBC come as no surprise. The BBC often handpicks interviewees who are likely to say such things as part of a wider pattern to demonize the State of Israel,” said Tom Gross, a former Middle East correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph and a Middle East analyst who has long been critical of BBC coverage of the region.

The AJC called on the BBC “to examine this disgraceful transmission, apologize to Jews around the world and remove from its archive the slanderous words.”

Reached for comment, the BBC press office in London said, “This interview was part of a wider piece about the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh which involved contributions from a number of people including Gordon Thomas, an author of a book about [the] Mossad.

“The sentiments expressed by Gordon Thomas were clearly his own opinions. They came at the end of the interview when it was being wrapped up and there was no time to come back on them.”

You can hear Thomas’ accusations here (from 17:30 onwards).

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:16PM: Oy to the vey: Someone thought this would be a good way to sell Israel.

SIZE DOESN’T MATTER – BIG PARADISE from Size Doesnt Matter on Vimeo.

6:30PM: Interesting (CNN!) report on Israel’s Winter Olympics ice skating hopefuls.

6:20PM: G-d bless Colonel Richard Kemp (who you will recall from here and here).

A former senior British army officer has said international media including the BBC are being exploited by “dark forces” who want to harm Israel.

Col Richard Kemp, who was a commander in Afghanistan, said some international criticism of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) was motivated by anti-Semitism.

He was speaking at a dinner in London hosted by a pro-Israel lobby group.

Col Kemp had defended the actions of the IDF at the UN Goldstone Hearings into the Gaza incursion of 2008.

The Israeli minister for Information and the Diaspora, Yuli Edelstein, was also present at the dinner hosted by the Zionist Federation.

He refused to comment on rumours that the Israeli secret service Mossad had fraudulently used the passports of British citizens during an operation to kill the Hamas boss Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Col Kemp, who is now retired from the Army and makes a living from writing, said the advice he received from the Israeli armed forces on how to tackle Afghan suicide bombers had been invaluable, and formed the basis of official army guidelines used by soldiers on the ground there.

There were some “bad” soldiers in the IDF, Col Kemp acknowledged.

But he added that despite similarities between the IDF and British forces, UK soldiers did not have to deal with the same amount of criticism from the international community.

“When we go into battle we do not get the same knee-jerk, almost Pavlovian response from many, many elements of the international media and international groups, humanitarian groups and other international groups such as the United Nations which should know better… of utter automatic condemnation. We don’t have to put up with that.”

The event, which was attended by over 400 British Jews, heard Mr Edelstein criticise the Goldstone report, which is widely regarded as biased within Israel, and warn against the rise of what he called a “new” anti-semitism.

He said that although it was important to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing by Israeli forces, the Goldstone report had influenced the enemies of his country to continue their campaign of hatred.

“Yes, we have to investigate, yes we have to check ourselves. Yes, I am ashamed of the soldier who stole some credit cards from a deserted house in the Gaza Strip. But between this and war crimes?”

6:12PM: Noah Pollak looks at Israel Derangement Syndrome in the British press.

6:08PM: David Hartwell, a security analyst at IHS Jane’s, talks about the use of European passports in last month’s killing of a Hamashole in Dubai and its impact on Israel’s relationship with European governments.

5:10PM: Earlier today, EU foreign ministers condemned the use of forged European passports by the assassins, but made no direct reference to Israel.

“The EU strongly condemns the fact that those involved in this action [assassination] used fraudulent EU member states’ passports and credit cards acquired through the theft of EU citizens’ identities,” a declaration on behalf of EU foreign ministers said.

—-

According to the European source, the UAE government did not blame Israel for carrying out the assassination nor did it request that Israel be cited in the EU statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has gone on the offensive in responding to claims Israel was behind the hit.

“The Arabs have a tendency to blame Israel for anything that happens in the Middle East,” the Israeli FM said, adding that the region “has many internal struggles within groups and states which are not as democratic as Israel is.”

5:05PM: The Dubai police chief has tied the killing of arch terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh to the Mossad.

Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said, ‘The police investigation has turned the assassination mission from a political crime – to a scandal, to a diplomatic crisis for Israel and has exposed the Israeli Mossad and the outrageous modes of operation its cells employed in order to murder Mabhouh.”

In an interview to Emirati paper al-Bayan published on Monday, Tamim said that “despite Israel’s attempts at denial, claiming there is no evidence that a Mossad cell carried out the assassination, the Dubai police are in possession of dozens of items of incriminating evidence against the cell which attest to the Mossad’s involvement.”

He further noted that “the tactical success of Mabhouh’s assassination is equal to its strategic and diplomatic failure.”

Tamim praised the Dubai police, saying, “Thanks to the Dubai police’s vigilance and capabilities and the strength of the evidence it holds and has handed over to the relevant countries, Mabhouh’s assassination has turned into a scandal and a diplomatic crisis for Israel.”

He rejected claims that western intelligence bodies cooperated with the Israeli Mossad in the operation.

The police chief added with satisfaction that this is the first time the Arab spectator has been able to witness the “crime of assassination.” He said the killing was a subject of interest in the West, to the point where western countries summoned Israeli ambassadors a number of times to demand official clarifications on the use of passports of four European countries.

Tamim stressed that the passports in question were not stolen or forged – but were real. “We do not rule out the possibility that Israel has a printer that prints passports of countries around the world, and this confirms that Israel is country that violates international law,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the “dozens of items of incriminating evidence against the cell which attest to the Mossad’s involvement” was recently leaked to the media.

9:48AM: The PA reacted to Israel’s decision to include Rachel’s Tomb (in Bethlehem) and the Cave of the Patriarchs (in Hebron) in a national plan to rehabilitate some 150 Jewish and Zionist heritage sites by calling it “dangerous.”

“This particular violation is especially dangerous because it will add to the religious component of the conflict in a way that might bring dangerous consequences,” said Ghassan Khatib, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’  government in Ramallah.

Aussie Dave’s rules of Palestinian Authority lexicon #37: When the PA speaks of “dangerous consequences” in relation to an Israeli action, it is almost always a threat of violence.

6:10AM: According to a new Gallop Poll regarding Americans’ perceptions of 20 nations that figure prominently in the news or US foreign policy, Israel ranked fifth amongst the countries viewed most favorably, Iran came in dead last, and while the PA was low down the list, there was a slight improvement in views over the past year (from 15%).
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Meanwhile, Israel was the most favored country amongst Republicans, while not faring as well amongst Democrats.

48 thoughts on “The Day In Israel: Monday Feb 22nd, 2010”

  1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    So out of 10 million Jews outside Israel, one out of 20, is, he claims, a Mossad agent. Wow!

    Reminds me of the bit about Louis Farrakhan claiming that the International Jewish Conspiracy meet on Wednesday, he just doesn't know where – and he would like an invitation.

    1. I found the reference to them in his book: "Regardless of allegiance to his or her country, in the final analysis a sayan would recognize a greater loyalty: the mystical one to Israel, and a need to help protect it from its enemies."

      That's the 'quality' of thought Thomas is capable of.

  2. I find this Gallup Poll extremely interesting and in some respects, quite surprising. I am surprised that only about half of Democrats have a positive view of Israel. I can only speculate that this is because of the demographics of our party which is heavilly populated with African Americans and very liberal Jews, two groups who historically have exhibited hostility towards Israel for different reasons. The other thing I found fascinating about this poll is that Republicans and older people are less likely to have positive views of foreigners no matter where they're from. I wonder what this says about Republicans and us older people?

    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

      That they're smarter? That they have memories? Republicans AND older people are more positive about Israel; the other countries listed have serious issues, generally in Human rights.

      1. You are the more hopeful, glass-half-full kind of guy than apparently I am. I had assumed Repubs & oldsters were generally more angry, set in their ways, more nativist and parochial in their world views. That and the fact that a much higher percentage of both groups wear adult diapers, making them even crankier than your average American.

        1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

          I assume that sinking to bathroom humor is an indication of desperation, in the face of the facts?

          One word: Munich. Both of them.

          The way I would interpret it is that the young people, the people who put Obama into office, have an insensitivity towards human rights abusers. To which I would blame the older people who taught them. Reminds be of what I always say – if they were the Greatest Generation, how come they raised a generation of jerks?

    2. Conservatives generally have a favorable view of Israel because:
      -enemy of my enemy is my friend
      -Christian-Jewish alliance in the US
      -Israel is a democracy surrounded by corrupt dictatorships
      etc.

      Democrats include the left wing antisemites that you see all over the world like Brigit Shitpull. The people who have made me shudder to associate with liberals and socialists. (Where are the left wing Zionists?)

      1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

        One should probably also remeber the isolationist tradition in American politics, which in the Viet Nam era moved from the Right to the Left. Of course, there has beed a revival of it among the American right, namely the Buchanan wing, joining people such as Novak who had been anti-Israel all along. (Novak actually seemed to obsess less over Israel in the later years.) Still, the pro-Israel, interventionist wing predominates, as is rather obvious from looking at the radio and TV commentators.

        But at the end, it is a case of Third World Good, First World Bad, and the effect of people who are futher from first the Second, and then the Third, World Wars (I mean the so-called Cold War), and have been taught the left-wing version of what happened.

        1. That's more Ron Paul's group now. He stops short of saying anything against Israel, but does say we should end our overseas empire (not a bad idea in some areas) and I think also calls for an end to foreign aid.

          The interesting thing about him is he is 74 and very…alive and healthy.

          1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

            He's a libertarian; I was speaking of conservatives. There is a lot of sympathy for him even from those who disagree or think he's a bit nuts – because it is refreshing to see someone in Congress who takes his oath of office literally.

            The neo-isolationists are still there, and grew due to Iraq. For example, John Corry (Author of My Times on his tenure reporting for the New Yor KTimes), who says he is one of the original neo-conservatives, is there and stops just short of being anti-Israel. However, they tend to get along pretty well together – you hear very pro-Israel people saying nice things about Novak and even Buchanan. (My Dad was on to Buchanan decades ago when he criticized the Soviet Jewry movement, in which my Dad was involved.)

            1. Oh yes I see. They've mostly been outshined by the neocons and standard conservatives though. All you hear today is spending and terrorism. Beyond Ron Paul, no one is really advocating isolation or non-intervention among the "right".

              John Corry can say all he want but neoconservatism requires support of Israel as a hedge against American enemies. hmm..

  3. I just linked to your coverage of this story from my blog today, although I argue that Israelis are less obsessed by Israeli-Arab relations than people outside Israel are. Along the lines of the poll, a lot of the most virulently anti-Arab and pro-Israel rhetoric I've heard has come from right wing Christians!

    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

      Well, this is obvious. Israel would be in real trouble in the U.S. if they had to depend on the Jewish community for support. Sad, but true.

      1. That’s rather insulting. I have never been inside a synagogue in the US that wasn’t pro-Israel. Now there are the J-Streets and the San Francisco’s of the world but your cynicism is unwarranted.

        I understand frustration with organizations like Hillel. My hands are tied as the Israel Officer for my school because we are not supposed to make any definitive political statements on the issue. I personally think its bullshit but Hillel is unofficially pro-Israel as they provide plenty of materials to “counteract anti-Semitism” which almost all of it is related to “counteracting anti-Israel.”

        Word play sucks.

        1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

          Your point is well taken, and comforting.

          Still, the fact is that Israel is not important enought in most Jews' politics to change their vote – or they've just drunk the kool-aid and don't realize what's happening. I think the evangelicals (not all of them, by any means) are better friends – partly because they don't have to deal with the dual loyalty issue, and because they haven't replaced their religion with the platform of the Democratic party (a.k.a Tikun Olam).

          Certainly Jews as a whole are more likely to be pro-Israel in spite of their politics – I give my wife and my sister (one of them), both very left-wing, as examples.

          I will close with the interesting point that the Bible says that when the final battle occurs, there will be Jews among the people fighting to destroy Jerusalem. The commentators assume they were forced. Little did they know!

          1. You see, Michael K., you can be viewed as an eternal optimist (me) or as a cynic (Michael) in the span of 30 minutes. And who are you calling a jerk, anyway?!!? We're the generation that embraced Rock and Roll, psychoanalysis and pop tarts–three great achievements in the history of mankind in my book.

            1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

              Especially since I was basing my comment a bit on your statement (sticks tongue out).

              I am very good at making people think I have the opposite view of whatever they have. After all, you think I'm extreme, and I would say I'm one of the more moderate people here.

              But I'm not a cynic – a skeptic, yes. To me a cynic is a person too naive to think there are better people than he is.

          1. Yeah they are. Its frustrating as all hell. But they quietly endorse activism as long as their name isn't used as "This is Hillel's position." So the majority of the editorials I write are written in my voice and not as an officer of Hillel on campus.

            We've had several speakers here that are unabashedly pro-Israel and Hillel is perfectly okay with that so its one of those underhanded tacit approvals…

            And as far as your point about Jews changing your vote, I agree to a point. I personally did not vote for Obama but I didn't vote for Mccain either. I didn't vote for Obama because I disagreed with his platform on domestic economic policy. I thought that having people like Rahm Emmanuel would be fine so at that point I was okay with him. And you know what, he may yet learn that he was incredibly naive to approach the situation like he did.

            McCain was bad news either way. I don't care if he was unabashedly pro-Israel. The likelihood of him sending us to war with Iran along with the same economic policies as Obama was frightening enough for me. Plus Palin is such a dolt.

            Its Congress, anyway, where you'd have to base your fears on or not. Most of Congress is intensely pro-Israel if not tacitly. And like it or not, Obama has to play ball with them so he can't stray too far off the line.

            1. Yeah the Hillel here sponsored Richard Landes. Great guy. I'd never heard of Pallywood before, nor did I know the extent of their fabrications. Unfortunately, the event was attended by perhaps 20 people, including non-students (Elder of Ziyon was one of them actually). It may/may not have had something to do with the student assembly meeting going on—they were discussing the "palestine" children's "relief" fund.

              HIllel also could have advertised it better. I just so happened to catch a poster.

            2. Michael Zvi Krumbein

              I also mean Congress. We had a Congressman, Ben Cardin (now Senator; Shoshana Cardin is his cousin) who never seemed to care too much. I mean, I'm a conservative Republican, but I wouldn't have minded if he at least attacked the Republican presidents who were pressuring Israel.

              I voted for Clinton once because of Bush I's policies on Israel, in spite of the fact that I disagreed with him on everything else; my very Liberal sister voted for McCain. You don't see too much of this is the general community. I think the Evangelical politicians (the pro-Israel ones, I mean) are more intensely pro-Israel than some of the Jewish one, partly because they have a better idea of what is going on.

              There was an organization, I forget the exact name, which was a group of Democrat dedicated to reversing the anti-Israel tilt in the Democratic party. They did some good work, but now they're just a front for the DNC. I think that's very sad, and I hope another group appears to take their place.

  4. I love all this attention the Assassination is getting.

    USA need to kill a terrorist leader–> Drops millions of dollars worth of bombs in the area he is suspected to be

    Russia needs to kill a terrorist leader–> Shell the village which he is suspected to be hiding.

    So whoever did this actually did it cheaply AND neatly.. no one is arguing the world would be better if this guy lived.

    1. Well it's like killing 2 civilians for every terrorist (Hamas) or 2 terrorists for every civilian (IDF) vs. killing 25 civilians for every terrorist. Yet Israel is the war criminal…

      And people wonder why we cry antisemitism.

      1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

        I think it's shameful how we abandoned our Christian allies in Southern Lebanon, not that the Christians of the world didn't pressure us to. Our lives would be easier if more Christians cared about each other.

        Of course, I feel the same way about the U.S. stabbing the people of Viet Nam in the back (in the front, actually), in spite of our agreeing to back them if attacked, leaving them to the depradations of the totalitarians. And I say that as someone who grew up with the possibility of being drafted into that war, something I had no problem with.

  5. And AussieDave, in future could you please label all of your posts as follows: "serious news item;" "tongue-in-cheek humor;" "ironic observation;" or "something just to pull at your heartstrings" or "something to piss off the Left?" Apparently some of your posts are causing confusion among your readership.

  6. So this list of three Mossad movies turned up in my inbox:
    The Champagne Spy (HaMiragel HaChempania) 2007
    Walk on Water (LaLehet Al HaMayim) 2004
    The Debt (Hachov) 2007
    Anyone seen them before?

    1. Walk on Water is FANTASTIC. Absolutely fantastic. The confrontation moment between the Mossad agent and they gay Palestinian is a little contrived but its just such a powerful movie. I highly recommend it.

  7. This whole line on Mossad burning the hamasole is a joke. lt was done delibertly to blame ISrael and the foolin Dubai is going right along. There is no proof. Israel intell is very good. So good they will not use Israelis as their models or those whose identities are used and captured so easliy. The manuvers were so amature and infantile it had to be either Fatah or hamas internal fighting for power that killed off that guy. I mean if these police brains really worked but in dubai it doesnt I'm surprised Dubai didnt blame Israel for the collapse of their realestate market . But no with these Arabs anything that happens is the cause ofd mossad. Please stay out of fantasy land and focus and who really killed this pos and why and the fingers will point back at arabs.

  8. Note the placement of the "S" in the Israel tourism advertisement. It is strategically placed to avoid having to depict Israel either with our without Judea and Samaria. Regarding the Golan, the image is unclear. What is it about defending it's own interests is so difficult for Israel? Just say "Judea and Samaria are ours" – could Israel's enemies hate Israel any more than they already do? What's the point in playing nice?

  9. I didn't actually watch the video before submitting my post above. I guess the "ad" is more of a joke than an actual tourism pitch. Whoops.

    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

      I hope. I felt like I was goingto be sick. Not that some of the stuff our Tourism bureau puts out is much better. (I will not even repeat it.)

      The Jewish Observer pointed it out a long time ago. Israel is far from the U.S. Unless you push the Jewish aspect, there really is not much to sell here that you couldn't get for much less money elsewhere.

  10. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    This is the first time I've heard that McCain might have got us into war wth someone. The OU was told by reps from both parties that Bush might have faced impeachment if he had attacked Iran. The only thing I LIKED about McCain (R-CBS) was Palin; if what you were saying was true I would have liked him better, although I doubt what we did in Iraq would work in Iran. We would need to bomb and leave. I voted for him, as usual, as the lesser of two evils.

  11. Sometimes, the media is not so concerned about giving the truth. As a matter of fact they are more concerned with sensationalizing the issue to advance subcriptions and capture the audience. It’s a spiel.

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