Israel and its lobby lose the Iran Deal all over again, in news of damning wiretaps

You’d think that there would be widespread outrage over the story everyone’s talking about today, the Wall Street Journal scoop that the Obama administration spied on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu during the Iran Deal negotiations so as to counter his efforts to sink it. The wiretaps reveal that Israeli officials were up to their necks in the US political process; they “coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes, according to current and former officials familiar with the intercepts.”

The president approved the wiretaps.

Privately, Mr. Obama maintained the monitoring of Mr. Netanyahu on the grounds that it served a “compelling national security purpose,” according to current and former U.S. officials.

That’s right; there’s a compelling national interest in stopping the Israel lobby.

Many have said that President Obama lacks spine? Well, it sure looks like the leak to reporters Adam Entous and Danny Yadron came from the administration, and it’s hard to believe that a leak of this magnitude was not approved by the president. Just when the Israel lobby thought that it was starting to get back to business as usual, the Obama administration has reminded them that something has fundamentally changed in the U.S.-Israel relationship. Not only did we beat the lobby and Israel on the Iran Deal, but: we’re exposing your tactics, and patriotic Americans are going to be very upset by what they see.

Remember that Obama in his highlight moment of the Iran Deal told Americans it would be an “abrogation of my constitutional duty” to defer to Israel’s interests on the Iran Deal. You’d think it would be a scandal that the Israeli PM was intriguing with Republicans — and surely some Democrats– in the way the WSJ has documented; but instead the official reaction is likely to be how outrageous it was for Obama and the NSA to be listening in on the supposed only democracy in the Middle East.

Some of the details from the article:

The U.S., pursuing a nuclear arms agreement with Iran at the time, captured communications between Mr. Netanyahu and his aides that inflamed mistrust between the two countries and planted a political minefield at home when Mr. Netanyahu later took his campaign against the deal to Capitol Hill.

The National Security Agency’s targeting of Israeli leaders and officials also swept up the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups. That raised fears—an “Oh-s— moment,” one senior U.S. official said — that the executive branch would be accused of spying on Congress…

White House officials believed the intercepted information could be valuable to counter Mr. Netanyahu’s campaign…

Much of the article substantiates the allegations swirling at the time of the deal, that Netanyahu was getting inside information on the secret negotiations. The eavesdropping revealed to the White House:

How Mr. Netanyahu and his advisers had leaked details of the U.S.-Iran negotiations — learned through Israeli spying operations — to undermine the talks; coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes, according to current and former officials familiar with the intercepts.

The notorious Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer was caught on the tapes:

Mr. Dermer was described as coaching unnamed U.S. organizations — which officials could tell from the context were Jewish-American groups — on lines of argument to use with lawmakers, and Israeli officials were reported pressing lawmakers to oppose the deal…

Israel’s pitch to undecided lawmakers often included such questions as: “How can we get your vote? What’s it going to take?”

Again, no names of US legislators, but this article contains the explicit threat that Israel could expose individuals down the road. The practice is sure to anger Americans and drive an even deeper wedge into the Jewish community over the role of the lobby. Patriotic Jewish Americans are going to be embarrassed yet again by the extent to which Israel tries to subvert our government, using American Jewish friends to do so. And many will walk away from the lobby over this kind of business. The large wavering middle of pro-Israel forces is going to be set back. J Street made the right call on the Iran Deal (reluctantly, I’ve heard) but it will reap a dividend.

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Notre Dame professor Michael Desch’s interpretation: “The lobby and Congress will no doubt try to spin it as more evidence of Obama’s anti-Israel animus. But the story constitutes powerful evidence of 1) divergence of US and Israeli interests on important issues like Iran and 2) close coordination of the lobby and Government of Israel in trying to influence US domestic politics.”

Scott Horton refers to the last big eavesdropping scandal, when then-congresswoman Jane Harman promised a suspected Israeli agent that she would attempt to stop a federal case against American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) staffers in exchange for that agent’s political influence in getting her a committee chair. Jeff Stein reported the story:

Rep. Jane Harman, the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.

Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.

In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.

The suspected Israeli agent was inferred (it was the opinion of Josh Marshall and Ron Kampeas) to be Haim Saban, the giant contributor to the Democratic Party. So a “suspected Israeli agent” is also a giant Democratic funder with influence over the Congress? We’re headed for a showdown between the lobby and the grassroots, inside the Democratic Party. And praise to the Obama administration, who we guess is fueling the controversy out of “compelling national” interest.

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The practice is sure to anger Americans and drive an even deeper wedge into the Jewish community over the role of the lobby. Patriotic Jewish Americans are going to be embarrassed yet again by the extent to which Israel tries to subvert our government, using American Jewish friends to do so. And many will walk away from the lobby over this kind of business. The large wavering middle of pro-Israel forces is going to be set back – See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2015/12/israel-damning-wiretaps#sthash.d70CuxYg.dpuf

i hope you’re right james and phil. but this sounds like a wish list, almost too good to be true!

A fascinating WSJ story, with a great deal more depth.

E.g., the President’s fear of using his own power, or being accused of abusing it. When the intercepts of Israelis “swept up contents of some of their private conversations with US lawmakers and American-Jewish groups. That raised fears – an ‘Oh-s— moment,’ one senior US official said – that the executive branch would be accused of spying on Congress.”

. . . .

“[t]he White House let NSA decide what to share and what to withhold.” . . . . “The agency’s goal was ‘to give us an accurate illustrative picture of what [the Israelis] were doing,’ a senior US official said.”

That’s known as being afraid of your own shadow (also abrogating presidential duty to oversee NSA – “no, you oversee us – we trust you more than anyone trusts us.”

E.g., “Despite NSA surveillance, Obama administration officials said they were caught off guard when Mr. Beohner announced the invitation on Jan.21.”

Does this signal Dermer which of his communications were secure and which compromised?

E.g., “NSA intelligence reports helped the White House figure out which Israeli government officials had leaked information from confidential US briefings.”

Does this let someone know his efforts to conceal his actions were breached?

Overall, however, I agree, it is likely to anger many especially those who support Trump and Sanders, who are fed up with Washington business as usual, who don’t like purchased influence driving the US toward war. More grist for the potential that Hillary may to have carry the Israel Lobby on her back in her fights against both Sanders and Trump. And Trump isn’t afraid to kick the hornet’s nest.

As to the Harman affair, you neglect to mention how effective the campaign was to block charges against the AIPAC officials, although Harman’s efforts were apparently not part of the winning strategy. I assume you mean that Saban was the assumed Israeli agent in the Harman affair, not this recent Dermer initiative.

Israel is looking at the dividends of its inept statesmanship, whether at the governmental level by officials calling the POTUS, in public venues, a monkey, and the endless stream of hateful remarks hurled at the US taxpayers ) or tribal level, by corrupting the diaspora to do Israel’s bidding.

Without this support Israel would be a country of no consequence, and yet there is no end to their contempt for the diaspora and the critically important source of the funding that makes possible Israel’s survival.

One wonders: if the diaspora is supposed to be so gung-ho for Israel, why does its support come at a price other than patriotic satisfaction?

As to Saban was the intermediary for Harmon, the authors have put that ideea in doubt:

(See my correction at the bottom of this post. It’s less clear than I originally thought that we know Saban was the person on the other end of the phone call. Time notes that Saban did lobby Pelosi on Harman’s behalf and seems to suggest this as a possible part of the quid pro quo. But a closer look leaves the identity of Harman’s interlocutor an open question.)

“asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes”

In other words, “Name your price”. Here we have a foreign government trying to corrupt American Congress members in order to sabotage an American president’s efforts to establish peace in the world.

This foreign government has a highly profitable weapons industry, and has been relentlessly pushing America into Middle East war for over a decade. Further, it has covered up its nefarious influence by gaining control of the mainstream news establishment in America.

“The truth is that the neocons and their liberal-hawk allies now control virtually the entire mainstream news media, from The New York Times and The Washington Post to NPR and the major networks to Fox News and most of right-wing talk radio.” From “The Misinformation Mess” –
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/12/28/the-misinformation-mess/

This foreign government’s corrupt influence goes back even further. President Kennedy was upset at certain campaign “donors” demands to control America’s foreign policy in the Middle East, and he tried to get agents of this country properly registered as agents of a foreign government. Unfortunately his efforts were cut short by assassination. These influences were in action even earlier than the Kennedy administration, as described in “War Profiteers and the Roots of the War on Terror”.

President Obama will do a great service for freedom of speech and democracy if he can find a way to flush this murderous corruption from American politics.