Home > FBI probing suspected Israeli spy at Pentagon
By James Risen
WASHINGTON - The FBI is investigating a Pentagon official on suspicion of passing secrets to Israel, according to government officials.
The espionage investigation has focused on an official who works in the office of Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defence for policy, officials who have been briefed about the investigation said on Friday. The FBI has gathered evidence that the Pentagon official passed classified policy documents to officials at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a major pro-Israeli lobbying group, who in turn provided the information to Israeli intelligence, the officials said.
The bureau has evidence that the Pentagon official provided the Israelis with a sensitive report about US policy toward Iran, along with other materials, the officials said.
Several government officials identified the Pentagon official who was under investigation, but he could not be immediately reached for comment about the accusations. The FBI has made no arrests in the case, government officials said.
Government officials suggested on Friday that investigators were seeking the cooperation of the Pentagon official being investigated.
Justice Department officials have declined to comment on the matter.
At the Israeli Embassy, a spokesman, David Siegel, said: “We categorically deny these allegations. They are completely false and outrageous.”
“The United States is Israel’s most cherished friend and ally,” Siegel continued. “We have a strong ongoing relationship at all levels, and in no way would Israel do anything to impair this relationship.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee also denied any wrongdoing. The organisation said in a statement: “Any allegation of criminal conduct by the organisation or its employees is baseless and false.” The group added, “We are fully cooperating with the governmental authorities and will continue to do so.”
The FBI inquiry has been under way for at least a year and has been one of the bureau’s most sensitive spy cases in years, officials said. One official said the suspected involvement of people working at a major pro-Israeli lobbying organisation in the spy case led the Justice Department to move cautiously.
The fact that the official under investigation works for Feith has also made the case politically sensitive for the Bush administration.
Before the war in Iraq, Feith created a special intelligence unit that sought to build a case that Iraq had ties to Al Qaeda, an effort that has since been heavily criticised by US intelligence professionals as an effort to justify the war.
Feith has also long been known as a major supporter of Israel, and while he was out of government in 1996 he signed a paper titled “A Clean Break,” issued by a Jerusalem-based policy group that called for the toppling of Saddam Hussein in order to enhance Israeli security. Before he came to the Pentagon, Feith was a partner in a law firm with L. Marc Zell, a lawyer with a firm now based in Israel.
In a statement made public on Friday night, the Pentagon said, referring to the Department of Defence: “DOD has been cooperating fully with the Department of Justice on this matter for an extended period of time.