Former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe wrote a book called The Profits of War in which he revealed the following about the notorious Achille Lauro hijacking:
An example is the case of the "Palestinian" attack on the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985. That was in fact, an Israeli "black" propaganda operation to show what a deadly, cutthroat bunch the Palestinians were.Terrorist Abu Abbas, says Ben-Menashe, received funds from Israeli agents posing as mafiosi.
We should note that Ben-Menashe has been often denounced as a fraud and a liar. Most of these denunciations stem from the early 1990s, when he offered support for the "October Surprise" story. At that time, his attackers tended to be guys like Steve Emerson, whom I never trusted.
That said, I don't trust Ben-Menashe either. If you want to know why, this remarkable article will give several excellent reasons. Like Ghorbanifar, he's one of those guys who keeps popping in and out of spook-land, even though the intelligence services of various nations have labeled him an unreliable scammer.
On the other hand: Ben-Menashe was, I believe, the first to expose Robert Maxwell as an Israeli intelligence asset, a claim later proven true. (I recommend Gordon Thomas' book on the Maxwell affair.) So perhaps the Achille Lauro tale deserves greater scrutiny...
1 comment:
Ari Ben Menasche's bona fides were essentially proven over the course of the Israeli denials turned into forced partial admissions.
First, they said he was a confabulator, never an Israeli intel service agent or employee.
When that line of defense failed, it was admitted that he worked at one or another Israeli security organization, but supposedly only as a 'lowly' translator, who certainly didn't do, and was in no position to do, say and overhear, the things he alleged he had done, seen, and heard.
Then, his extensive visa stamps proved his foreign travels were not consistent with their 'only a translator' story, and the Israeli backtrack was nearly complete, similar to the same official Israeli denial behaviors for other Israeli agents, such as Pollard.
But was it Abu Abbas, or Abu Nidal, at the Achille Lauro?
sofla
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