Upcoming legal battle dramatizes rising concern about the Israel lobby
by Justin Raimondo
It seems to have fallen down the memory hole or been consigned to the purgatory of forgotten news stories: the indictment of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two top officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). More than three years ago, the news that Rosen, the number-one lobbyist for Israel in Washington, and his sidekick Weissman had been indicted for violating the Espionage Act, for handing over top-secret intelligence to Israeli embassy officials, broke like a thunderclap over official Washington. Today, its echoes have petered out almost entirely, as news of the case has sunk so far beneath the media’s radar that developments in what is an important and fascinating story are no longer reported. I’ll do my best to rectify that.
But first, one has to wonder, why is the veil of silence being drawn over this extraordinary affair? After all, the story involves what Time magazine called “among the most politically charged espionage cases in years” – surely a newsworthy topic. Why no follow-up? It’s very odd. Don’t forget that AIPAC, the premier pro-Israel lobby in the country and one of the most powerful and feared of Washington’s movers and shakers, was subjected to no less than two humiliating FBI raids on its Washington offices: desks were searched and emptied and computers carted away, while a cordon of agents prevented anyone or anything from leaving or entering the area until the operation was over. All AIPAC employees were, presumably, questioned. You don’t see that kind of action unless there is something very substantial behind it.
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11695