Last week Sallai Meridor quit as Israeli ambassador to the US with some saying he saw the two countries on a "collision course" with President Obama and PM Netanyahu. Now Eli Lake reports that Netanyahu's likely choice as national security advisor, Uzi Arad, can't get into this country because he's a former Mossad guy and security risk who was cited in the AIPAC spying case:
Mr. Arad acknowledged to The Washington Times that he has not been able
to obtain a visa to come to the United States but said the Israeli
government is trying to change that.
"The director general of the Israel Foreign Ministry did tell his
American counterparts that there has been no cause to deny me a visa,"
Mr. Arad told The Times.
Israeli and U.S. officials said Mr. Arad has been denied a U.S. visa
since June 2007 under section 212 3(a) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act. This gives consular officers and the Justice
Department authority to bar people who may seek "to violate any law of
the United States relating to espionage or sabotage" from entering the
country.
Mr. Arad was a member of the Mossad spy service from 1975 to 1997.
After retiring, he became Mr. Netanyahu's foreign policy adviser. While
in the Mossad, Mr. Arad worked mainly on analysis, but he also served
as a liaison for intelligence operations with allied services such as
the CIA.
In the past 21 months, prominent Israelis and Americans have quietly
but unsuccessfully pressed U.S. officials to grant Mr. Arad a visa.
